JSE tbc Hutbot ct tbte Volume. 



LOVES IN THE TROPICS. 
i2mo. Cloth. Jl.OO. 

A MODERN AGRIPPA, and PATIENCE BARKER, 
nmo, Cloth. $1.25. 



A Holiday 

IN 

Spain and Norway 



By 

Caroline Earle White 

Author of 

Love in the Tropics," and lt A Modern Agrippa and 
Patience Barker' ' 



* 




Philadelphia 

J. B. Lippincott Company 

Mdcccxcv 



1~)n>7 



h=> 






Copyright, 1895, 

BY 

J. B. Lippincott Company. 



Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, U.S.A. 



I 2* 2- 



PREFACE 

These letters were written often in the 
hurry of rapid travel, when the writer was 
obliged at times to leave and return to 
them, her train of thought being broken, 
consequently they may appear somewhat 
discursive. They give, however, a cor- 
rect picture of the countries which they 
describe, countries as yet rarely visited 
by the majority of American tourists, and 
hence may prove interesting. 

C. E. W. 



SPAIN 



Cordova, May 9, 1894. 

Deab . 

At last we are in Spain, the country 
which we have so much desired to visit for 
several years, — sunny Spain, the land 01 
romance and song, the scene ol the long 
contest for supremacy between the Moors 
and the Christians, a struggle that has 
left its ineffaceable marks here, not only 
in the abandoned and desecrated works 
of art, but in its effect upon the character 
and customs of the people. We entered 
at Barcelona, the Liverpool of Spain, nearly 
two weeks ago, and spent several days 
there. It is the most prosperous city oi 
the kingdom, and most resembles one of 
our American towns in the bustle and air 
of business which pervade the community, 
but in the attractions of great works of 
art, and the monuments of by-gone ; 
it is behind all the rest of its r, It 

possesses an exceedingly fine opera house, 



8 A HOLIDAY IN 

where one evening we attended the per- 
formance. It was hero that, last Novem- 
ber, the bomb was thrown by one o( the 

anarchists which killed twenty two people 
and wounded more than fifty more. In 
seeing the spot where this occurrence took 
place, and hearing the details, we realized 

more than ever before the wickedness o{ 
the species oi warfare which consists in 
killing and wounding innocent men ami 
women and children. It" anarchists wish 
to advance their cause, and to lighten the 
evils under which the working-classes 
labor, they must choose some other means 
than these. It is said that ever since the 
bomb was thrown in the opera house at 
Barcelona many oi the people, and the 
aristocracy in particular, have refrained 
from going there. The evening that we 
attended the performance there were 
guards posted, all around the building and 
through the galleries. On the first of 
May there were six thousand soldiers col- 
lected in the city, in order to quell a dis- 
turbance, provided any should occur; but 



SPAIM AND NORWAY 9 

everything passed off quietly. The annual 
exhibition of paintings was open while we 
were there, but, judging from most of the 
pictures which we saw, we should say that 
art is now in Spain at a very low ebb. 
Wishing to continue our journey along 
the eastern coast as far as there was any 
railroad to permit of our doing so, we left 
Barcelona in the morning and late in the 
afternoon reached Tarragona. 'I I)': Span- 
ish trains go very slowly, and, when they 
arrive at a place, do riot seem to be in any 
hurry to leave it. The mails go with each 
train in a separate car marked "correos," 
rmd there is a box with a slit on the out- 
side of each mail car, called in Spanish 
"buzon," in which at the different stations 
people can deposit tli^ir letters as they 
would in a post-offjse. The mails arc 
also distributed at each station ; and we 
were much amused, on one occasion, 
while the train appeared to be waiting an 
indefinite time "with no one getting off or 
getting on, at seeing one of the officials 
reading aloud a letter to a peasant, who, 



IO A UOW PAY IN 

as we supposed, had just received it, and 
was unable to read or write. These im- 
mensely long stops at some of the trifling 
wayside stations, we have never been able 
to comprehend. 

Tarragona is a curious old town, beau- 
tifully situated on a height overlooking the 
Mediterranean. The inhabitants are very 
poor, and the houses, of a Moorish or 
Eastern appearance, are unattractive in 
their exterior. The visits oi strangers 
there must be like those o\ angels, " tew 
and far between," judging from the man- 
ner in which we were received, for, when 
we went out to see the old cathedral in 
which was the tomb o( Godfrey oi Bouil- 
lon, we were soon followed by a crowd o( 
children, going everywhere that we went, 
precisely as if we had been a travelling cir- 
cus or menagerie. Finding such notoriety 
somewhat embarrassing, we soon con- 
cluded to return to the hotel, though not 
until we had carefully inspected the curi- 
osities oi the cathedral. One respect in 
which it differed from others we have seen 



SPAIN AND NORWAY I I 

was that all its huge pillars were covered 
with hangings of the finest tapestry, rep- 
resenting sacred subjects, all embroidered 
by the nuns of Tarragona. The next day 
we left there for Valencia. The first part 
of the long journey we skirted the coast 
as we had done between Barcelona and 
Tarragona, and had our eye:, gladdened 
by a constant view of the blue Mediter- 
ranean ; but after a time the railway struck 
inland,,and we were soon travelling through 
groves of orange trees well nigh as thick 
as leaves in Vallombrosa. We had hith- 
erto soon mostly olivo trees and vineyards, 
where the grape-vines were cut down to 
the height of a little over a foot, together 
with occasional fields of grain ; but as we 
neared Valencia, we beheld little butorange 
trees, most of them in blossom and some 
bearing fruit The air was redolent with 
their fragrance, and we enjoyed to the 
utmost our first experience of such travel. 
We found Valencia, where we stayed a 
couple of days, a city of considerable im- 
portance as a seaport, but otherwise pos- 



\ HOLIDAY IN 

ng few attractions, although we were 

. ople were unusually s< 

and friendly. There, as in Barcelona, the 

custom pi availed of driving Rocks of goats 

• the stiwus. and stopping them at 

certain places in order to give their milk 

to waiting customers, Each goat is pre 

vided with a bell hanging from a strap 

around its neck, as well as a nui.vle to 
keep it from eating up all the tender plants 
along the line of its march, to say nothing 

of hand hills and paper boxes. When it 
rains, these valuable animals are provided 
with an India-rubber, tightly-fitting blanket 
or cover to prevent their taking cold. 

They are milked out in the street any- 
where apparently that any one comes up 
with a pitcher or bowl desiring a supply 
o( the lacteal fluid. The tinkling oi the 

bells around their necks forms aw impor- 
tant feature in the city noises every morn 
ing d\\d evening, and is likely to disturb 
the matutinal slumbers of those who 
hear it for the first time. In Valencia, in 
addition to the usual droves o( goats, 



IPA1 '■'■' / 1 3 

a appeared upon the scene, some of 
the inhabitants evidently preferring l 
milk to that of their smaller relal 

reas every goat was furnished with a 
small bell, every cow had a huge one 
around her neck, giving forth the most 
unmusical sound possible, and attached to 
her side, by means of straps or ropes, 
walked \\<-r latest offspring, in the shape 
of a young bull All these little bulls 
were muzzled, but at stated intervals the 
muzzles were removed, and they were 
allowed to refresh themselves at the ma- 
ternal fount \*v(:ry cow was invariably 
accompanied by her son, a custom, the 
reason for which we could not divine until 

as suggested to us that cows have 
sometimes a habit of refusing to let '. ; 
their milk until they know that a portion 
of it at least is to contribute to the nour- 
ishing of their offspring. AH these curious 
sights in the heart of a great city inter- 
ested us extremely, while at the same time 
our hearts were saddened with the reflec- 
tion that all these little bovines were being 



14 A HOLIDAY IN 

roared for the purpose of affording a holi- 
day amusement, by their tortures, suffer- 
ing, and death in the bull-ring, to a cruel, 

excited crowd oi spectators. Ice appears 
to be almost an unknown substance in 
Spain, and, as the weather at this time oi 
the year is very warm, there arises the 
necessity not only oi obtaining milk fresh 
at one's door, but oi having a market 
every day in the week. The market 
square on Sunday in Valencia was the 
most busy and animated spot in the whole 
city, and many of the stalls were not closed 
till three or four o'clock in the afternoon. 
Meantime the churches were well filled, 
for a more devout nation than the Span- 
iards can hardly be found on the face of 
the erlobe. In the great cathedrals several 
masses are going on at the same time 
until ten or eleven o'clock every day in 
the week, and in the smaller churches 
there is at least one mass every hour. 
We heard a beautiful musical service on 
Sunday morning' in Valencia. It appeared 
to be what is called the " Office of the 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 1 5 

Blessed Virgin/' Two fine male voi 
in the choir sang a portion of a hymn, and 
the congregation responded by singing 
the remainder, with the organ for an ac- 
companiment. When we left Valencia, as 
we could no longer follow the sea-coast, 
the railroad not yet being built, we decided 
to go to Cordova. It was a long, uninter- 
esting and tiresome journey, lasting nearly 
twenty-four hours. Travelling all night 
on a Spanish railway, even if in a first- 
class carriage, is not paradisiacal. We 
shudder to think of what it must be in a 
second-class conveyance. Soon after leav- 
ing Valencia, our eyes were greeted with 
an unusual sight, that of a large number 
of rice fields. They were all covered with 
water to the depth of two or three inches, 
recalling to our minds what we had heard 
of the unhealthfulness of rice cultivation. 
The country after a time became evidently 
less fertile, as we could see from the nature 
of the crops, and during the greater part 
of the day our road led through the arid 
and rather desolate province of La Man- 



1 6 A HOLIDAY IN 

cha, famous for being the theatre of the 
life and exploits of Cervantes' hero. The 
land, being less rich than some of that 
we had passed through, furnished a favor- 
able soil for wild flowers, which grew in 
profusion. We thought we had never 
seen anything more beautiful than the 
masses of the rich scarlet poppy inter- 
spersed with a delicate blue flower re- 
sembling a convolvulvus, which grew in 
great quantities, and small yellow dande- 
lions. The road-sides were a glory. Their 
loveliness reconciled us to the absence of 
the fertile, well-cultivated fields on which 
we had gazed so long. We reached here 
about eleven o'clock in the morning, and, 
after taking our mid-day meal and an after- 
noon siesta, started out on a tour of in- 
spection. Our steps were, of course, im- 
mediately directed towards the great 
wonder of Cordova, the famous mosque, 
now changed into a Catholic cathedral. 
Though we had read of it all our lives, 
we were unprepared for the marvellous 
sight that burst upon our view as we en- 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 1 7 

tered. It is of such immense dimensions 
that it appeared to us even larger than 
St. Peter's at Rome, and in whatever direc- 
tion we turned our eyes we saw before 
us a sea of arches supported by delicate, 
slender pillars, yet in nothing like confu- 
sion, but arranged so symmetrically, that 
wherever we turned there lengthened out 
before us a wide vista with columns on 
both sides stretching out almost inter- 
minably. We were conducted by the 
sexton to a portion of the edifice which 
was to the Moslem the Holy of Holies, 
and where the arabesques upon the arches 
and walls were of the most superb de- 
scription. Here there was an inner cir- 
cular chamber with a fluted ceiling all cut 
out of one piece of marble, surrounded 
with inscriptions from the Koran engraved 
in stone, the floor of which, although nearly 
as hard as the solid rock, was worn in a 
groove by the pilgrims to the mosque, 
who used to walk around it seven times 
in imitation of the ceremonies at Mecca. 
This mosque was constructed purposely 



iS A HOLIDAY IN 

with a view to its being used as a sacred 
shrine, and answering, instead of Mecca, 
as a spot to which the faithful might make 
an annual pilgrimage. This wonderful 
work of art was greatly impaired in the 
beauty of its interior by the Christians, who, 
when they gained possession of it in the 
fourteenth century, covered a large por- 
tion of the delicate arabesques on the 
walls with a thick coat of plaster. There 
is now being an attempt made to remove 
this plaster and restore the sacred edifice 
to its former condition. 



Grenada, May 12, 1S94. 

Dear . 

In all the places we have seen in Spain, 
none has pleased us so much as Cordova. 
Although the houses are of an Eastern 
simplicity externally, with bare white walls 
and little balconied windows, they are very 
attractive on account of their charming 
court-yards, generally filled with plants or 
flowers. Every house, except those of 



SPAIN ANO NORWAY I9 

the very humblest order, is built with a 
square vestibule, having a brick or stone 

floor, and with heavy wooden outside doors 
that are kept wide open except at night 
This vestibule leads into the court-yard 
with a gate between, the upper half of 
which is of open iron work, allowing 
passers-by to look through and see the 
flowers. Even the houses which have not 
the court-yard, have the little balconies 
outside the windows filled with geraniums, 
ro ' >, and other flowering plants. The 
roses o r Spain have been a wonder to us 
throughout our journey, and the same in 
Italy. Not only their beauty, but their 
cheapness is amazing to American minds. 
In Florence we could buy two or three 
dozen rose buds in a bunch (and those of 
the finest varieties, such as we raise in hot 
houses at home) for six or eight cents. 
The cleanliness of Cordova is remarkable 
as well as the aesthetic taste of its inhab- 
itants. We walked through its streets 
early in the morning, and everywhere they 
were being washed ; not only the side- 



20 A HOLIDAY IN 

walks, but the middle of the streets, the 
width of the whole being usually about 
twelve feet. There was the inevitable 
bull-ring in this as in all other towns of 
Spain, but we passed it by with as little 
notice as possible, to avoid the unpleasant 
suggestions caused by the sight. As we 
were leaving Cordova on our way here, 
we perceived some trouble in the railway 
carriage next to ours, and presently we 
heard some alarming screams. After a 
moment's reflection, we concluded that it 
must be an insane person who was being 
conveyed to a hospital, but upon inquiry 
we learned from the guard that it was a 
drunken woman. This surprised usgreatly, 
as we had never seen an intoxicated man 
in Spain, much less a woman, but inquiring 
farther, we learned that it was an English 
woman. She was accompanied by one of 
her own countrymen with whom she was 
travelling, and she was evidently just 
getting over a spree. This occurrence 
caused something of a sensation, and a 
Spanish officer who was in our carriage 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 21 

entered into conversation with those of 
our party who could speak Spanish. He 
was from Cordova, and told us a great 
deal of the character and customs of the 
people of his native town. He said that 
their habits of thrift and cleanliness had 
descended to them from the Moors who 
so long inhabited Cordova, and that in 
many other respects they showed the in- 
fluence of Moorish customs. The women, 
he said, were extremely modest and re- 
tiring, fond of seclusion, and preferring 
the company of their own to that of the 
opposite sex. Referring to the drunken 
woman in the neighboring carriage, he 
told us that in Cordova intoxication in 
females indicated the very extreme of deg- 
radation. No woman could sink lower 
than that. He mentioned, as an instance 
of the retiring habits of his towns-women, 
that a short time before he had gone on 
a little excursion with a small party of 
friends. There were some ladies among 
them, who enjoyed themselves very much 
until some strangers entered the railway 



22 A HOLIDAY IN 

carriage. They were gentlemen, but still 
they were strangers, and their presence 
made the ladies so uncomfortable that 
they insisted upon going into another car- 
riage where they could be by themselves. 
We were passing at that time through a 
beautifully cultivated country with a long 
stretch of fertile fields on each side of the 
road. Our companion told us that it all 
belonq-ed to the Duke of Medina Coeli, 
that as far as the eye could reach the land 
was his, and that he was enormously rich. 
We took the opportunity of asking him 
something we had long wished to know, 
— viz., whether the men who farmed the 
lands did it in shares, or in what manner 
they were paid for their work. He re- 
plied that they were compensated by a 
certain fixed sum, which never varied, so 
that they were sure of a maintenance in 
case the crops failed, or the taxes were 
increased. The farming, although very 
rude instruments were often used, that is, 
rude in comparison with ours at home, 
appeared to be remarkably well done, and 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 23 

we were told that this excellent method 
of cultivating the ground had also been 
taught to them by the Moors. There are 
often droughts of considerable length here 
and irrigation is very common. All the 
orange orchards that we have seen have 
been kept constantly moistened by arti- 
ficial means, and, as I said before, the rice 
fields that we saw were covered with water 
to a depth of several inches. Until we 
came here to Grenada, we never saw a 
forest tree, unless we could consider as 
such a few scattered Lombardy poplars. 
Poor Spain has been denuded of almost 
all her forests. Orange and olive trees 
there are in great abundance, but they 
do not attain to any considerable height. 
After such a deprivation, it was all the 
more delightful to us to see the quantity 
of magnificent elms here at Grenada. 
Our hotel, the " Siete Suelos," looks right 
out upon the Alhambra. As we sit in the 
garden taking our morning coffee or our 
dejeuner a la fourchette, we are only sepa- 
rated by a wall from the historic pile. The 



24 A HOLIDAY IN 

roads in every direction around the Al- 
hambra are bordered with these splendid 
trees, sent out here from England, and 
which cast so thick a shade that no other 
protection from the sun is necessary. The 
morning after our arrival we started at 
once, after taking our coffee, for the Al- 
hambra. There is a large settlement of 
gypsies here, and we had not gone far 
before one of the women approached, 
begging to be allowed to tell our fortunes. 
We resisted her importunities for some 
time, but she was so attractive, with her 
black eyes and white teeth contrasting 
brilliantly with her dark skin, that at last 
we yielded, and allowed her to tell the 
fortune of an unmarried member of our 
party. The fortune, when it was told, was 
much in the style of such performances 
generally; but, after it was done, she pro- 
posed, if her payment was supplemented 
with another piece of silver, to tell us a 
fortunate number in the lottery. We de- 
clined, at the same time telling her that 
we did not approve of lotteries. This was 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 2$ 

evidently a height of morality far beyond 
her comprehension, and we left her in a 
state of bewilderment. I do not propose 
to say much of the Alhambra, since it is 
the one thing in Spain with which Amer- 
icans are particularly well acquainted. The 
writings of Washington Irving have made 
our country people feel at home here, if 
nowhere else. We were conscious of a 
little feeling of disappointment in seeing 
it for the first time. It did not seem to 
us so wonderful as the mosque at Cordova, 
still, we thought many parts of it magnifi- 
cent, particularly the Court of Lions and 
the Hall of the Ambassadors. The grand 
hall where Queen Isabella received Chris- 
topher Columbus and promised him her 
jewels to aid him in his undertaking — 
when setting out for the journey which re- 
sulted in the discovery of America — had 
an especial interest for us, as well as the 
smaller room with the fountain in the 
middle where all the Abencerrages who 
had incurred the displeasure of the Sul- 
tan Boabdil were decapitated, their blood 



26 A HOLIDAY IN 

mingling with the water of the fountain. 
There are many other places of -interest 
here that we have visited, — the beautiful 
church dedicated to the famous Portuguese 
saint, St. John of God, and which contains 
his remains, the still handsomer Cartuja 
belonging- to the monastery of the Car- 
thusians, and the chapel of the Cathedral 
where are interred Ferdinand and Isabella, 
and their daughter Joanna, with her hus- 
band, Philip of Austria. A gentleman in 
our party descended into the vault and 
touched the coffins of the royal couples, 
but the effort being attended with consider- 
able discomfort, the ladies did not attempt 
it. The sight of Joanna's effigy in marble 
recalled the sad story of the unfortunate 
queen, and we seemed to see before us 
the melancholy procession, continued dur- 
ing weeks of stormy and bitter weather, 
when she bore the body of her beautiful, 
intensely beloved husband from Austria 
to Spain, where it found a resting-place at 
last in the chapel where we beheld it. The 
loss of her consort, joined with her grief 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 2J 

at his indifference to her, when she loved 
him so devotedly, bereft her of reason, 

and, after the death of her father and 
mother, she was kept in confinement for 
many years by her son, Charles the Fifth, 
never recovering her faculties so long as 
she lived. In the same chapel we were 
shown the casket in which Queen Isabella 
placed the jewels that were sold for the 
benefit of Columbus, and some ecclesiasti- 
cal vestments worn by Cardinal Mendoza, 
as well as other objects of interest. One 
of the greatest pleasures that we have 
had in connection with the Alhambra is 
the ascent of the Torre de la Vela, and 
the magnificent view we had from its sum- 
mit, the beauty of which was greatly in- 
creased by the snow mountains of the 
Sierra Nevada. On one side lay all 
Grenada at our feet, on the other the 
great vega or plain stretched out before 
us, with its fertile, well-cultivated fields, 
and the river Genii wandering along its 
whole length. The day was beautiful, 
and the air as well as the prospect so 



2S A HOLIDAY IN 

agreeable that we spent an hour or two 
on top of the tower. We shall not soon 
forget Grenada, with its Alhambra and its 
gypsies and its groves of elms. It has 
also some celebrated gardens, which we 
have visited and found them most attract- 
ive, barring a little stiffness in the arrange- 
ment of the tlower-beds and walks. No- 
where has the appearance of the people, 
of the men especially, impressed us more 
favorably than at Cordova. The officer 
who was our travelling companion, said 
that it was an unusually aristocratic city, 
mentioning with considerable pride that 
there were twenty-six noble families re- 
siding within its walls. We were inclined 
to believe there was something in what he 
said, from the fact that one afternoon, while 
we were in the great mosque or cathedral, 
we had seen the funeral of a citizen who 
held some public office, and we were im- 
pressed with the appearance of the men 
attending it. One of them, whom we par- 
ticularly noticed, had the head and face of 
an Apollo. He was a man about fifty 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 20, 

years of age, with a perfectly Greek pro- 
file, a figure worthy of his face, and a 
high-bred air; at the same time modest 
and quiet as if perfectly unconscious of 
his attractions. Women do not attend fu- 
nerals in Spain, There are peculiar cus- 
toms in connection with their going to 
church which it takes a stranger a little 
while to learn. It is " de rigueur" to have 
on a black dress and to wear a mantilla 
when at mass. In the streets and at en- 
tertainments we see them sometimes with 
bonnets, but never in church. The younger 
women take to bonnets kindly, but some 
of the older ones refuse ever to wear 
them. They evidently look upon them as 
a corrupting influence, which, if not re- 
pelled and kept at bay, may lead to a de- 
terioration of morals. We have heard so 
much of the Spanish mantilla and of its 
picturesqueness, that we expected to find 
it enhancing the good looks of its wearer, 
but this is by no means the case. A pretty 
bonnet or hat is in our opinion ten times 
as becoming. Now we must start for 



30 A H011 PAY IN 

Gibraltar and rangier, ami say good-bye 
to you for the present. 



Tangier, Morocco, M.n 15, 1 So 4. 
Dear . 

Every American should come to Tan- 
gier, it" he wishes to see the exact opposite 
oi everything that he has ever beheld or 
known in all his life before. One can 
easily imagine upon arriving here that he 
is suddenly transplanted by a friendly 
genie and set down in the midst oi a 
scene from the Arabian Nights. There is 
no road either in or around the city, con- 
sequently such a thing as a carriage is 
unknown. Everybody rides on a horse, 
a mule, or a donkey, unless he prefers 
Shanks's mare. The streets are all very 
narrow and paved with cobble stones, put 
down more unevenly than even those in 
the streets of Philadelphia, so that much 
exercise in the way oi walking is not bal- 
samic to the feet. 'Through these narrow 
streets, particularly the principal one oi 



IPA1 WM 31 

the town, pours a motley ass':mbJa^ of 

>s, Moors. n in coarse, light 

cotton garments, with their faces covered 
up excepting the eye s, negroes, Jews, 
Europeans, and Ai orses, m 

donkeys, camels, and dogs, all mixed up 
in inextricable confusion. Everyl 

9 in the middle of the street (there 
being, as a general thing, nowhere 
jo walk), and is consei tntinually 

under the nose of a horse 01 e, or 

pushed aside bya donkey* Why we 
not been run over before th 
foot, or why we I .- v': over sc 

body else when on a mule, is a standing 

irel. Everything is so utterly and en- 
tirely different from all to which we have 
Loon accustomed that we were conscious 
of a feeling of surprise in seeing that the 
dogs and cats looked just '■. at 

The ho r : nearly all of plain 

whifc d exteriors, two stories high, 

etimes with pretty good sized w 
on the second floor; sometimes with 
nothing but slits in the wall, only large 



$2 A HOLIDAY IN 

enough to allow the entrance of an in- 
finitesmal quantity of light and air. It 
may be that these have open court-yards, 
or are lighted in some other way ; as we 
did not enter them, we cannot say. \Ye 
have, however, gone into the lower story 
of some that are very pretty, with large 
halls and ornamented columns and ceil- 
ings in die Moorish style of architecture. 
A great many of the houses have shops 
under them. These shops are the most 
curious places imaginable. They are like 
little booths, having no windows, and get- 
ting all their light from the open door-way. 
There are no chairs in them, and the 
Moors, who are their possessors, either 
stand or squat, cross-legged, upon the 
floor. We entered one, to-day, larger 
and of a more pretentious appearance. 
In order to reach it we went into an en- 
trance like that of a private house, then 
through one or two hall-ways, and finally 
out into the inevitable court-yard with a 
tessellated marble floor and open to the 
sky. On one side of this court-yard was 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 33 

the shop, on the others the living rooms 
of the family of the proprietor. lie was 
a Jew from Tetuan, and was of a very 
sociable and friendly disposition. This 
was evinced, in the first place, by his mak- 
ing us acquainted with all his family, his 
wife at the head and a number of small 
children bringing up the rear. We were 
looking for embroideries, and we mark; a 
small purchase, not enough to have 
allowed any great amount of profit, so we 
must attribute it to his natural benevolence 
that, on the way out, he invited us to walk 
in and seat ourselves in what we suppose 
was his parlor. A music-box was then 
set going for our edification, and some re- 
freshment was served to us in the shape 
of a kind of preserved fruit and glasses 
of cordial, the last emblematic, we thought, 
of the welcome we had received. We 
considered that, upon the whole, we could 
not have had better treatment even at the 
hands of a Christian. Yesterday we had 
our first mule ride in Tangier. Each mule 
was accompanied by an attendant in the 
3 



34 A HOLIDAY IN 

shape of an Arab man or boy, and in ad- 
dition we had a guide, who went with us 
on foot We rode first through the main 
street of the town and out of the grate 
into the great market-place, which is always 
a scene of the most immense activity, tu- 
mult, and confusion. Here sit a line of 
women in the portion of the ground (for 
it is all on the bare ground and not in any 
enclosed or covered space) nearest to the 
wall of the town, selling vegetables and 
coal ; beyond them an immense number 
of donkeys being loaded and unloaded; 
beyond them, again, droves of cattle, 
brought from the interior, to be sent away 
in boats to Gibraltar and Cadiz, and a 
little farther on, a quantity of camels just 
arrived from the desert, lying down to 
rest themselves after their long journey, 
in many cases the young ones lying at the 
side of their mothers. In the midst of 
this medley are men going around selling 
cakes and other eatables, musicians seated 
on the ground making" a series of dis- 
cordant sounds supposed to be attractive, 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 35 

and which certainly attract a large crowd 
to witness the performances of a snake- 
charmer, and everywhere through it all, 
beggars, beggars, beggars. The scene is 
one that upon all occasions, or at least 
when we have seen it, is simply indescrib- 
able. With the aid of our shouting at- 
tendants, we made our way through it, 
and were conducted to several places of 
interest, the most remarkable among them 
being that of the harem of the governor. 
Only the ladies of our party were allowed 
to enter here. We found five or six in- 
mates, one being evidently a servant. Of 
the others, the eldest was much the hand- 
somest, but all had very fine eyes. They 
were dressed in the Eastern costume, with 
sashes very low down around their waists, 
and some soft white stuff around their 
heads. Their apartments consisted of 
several rooms around an open court-yard, 
all with beautifully tessellated floors in dif- 
ferent colored stone. There was not a 
chair anywhere, but low divans or couches 
were spread around in the different rooms, 



36 A HOLIDAY IN 

on which the women sat or reclined. They 
all sprang up as we entered and a lively- 
conversation ensued, they speaking Arabic 
and we English. Neither party under- 
stood a word that the other said, so we 
did not make our visit a very long one. We 
then went to the prison, which is a woful 
place. We were allowed to look through 
a hole at the inmates, who were seated on 
the bare ground, in a wretched damp, 
dark, dirty place, making straw baskets. 
We gave a shilling to the guard seated at 
the door of the prison, although he did 
nothing for us, because we were told to 
do so by our guide ; but we bought no 
baskets of the poor prisoners, which we re- 
gretted most sincerely afterwards, when we 
heard that the government, which confines 
them in such a terrible place, gives them 
nothing to eat, so that, were it not for 
the charity of visitors, they would starve 
to death. It is reported that such has 
been the fate of some of these miserable 
captives. The tales that we hear of the 
cruelty and tyranny of the government 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 37 

are almost incredible. An English lady, 
who has lived there for a number of years, 
told us that no Moor dares to have a 
handsome house exteriorly, or anything 
that would give rise to the suspicion that 
he has much money, as there would be, in 
such a case, some charge trumped up 
against him, and he would be thrown into 
prison and kept there until almost the 
last farthing had been squeezed out of 
him. For the same reason, an agricul- 
turist has no incentive to any great effort 
in cultivating the ground, or raising any- 
thing extra in the way of crops, as it 
would at once be supposed that he was 
making money, and he would be pounced 
upon by the government. The poverty 
and dirt and squalor are indescribable, 
and yet, in spite of it all, there is a pic- 
turesqueness and air of romance and a 
glamour that can be found nowhere but 
in the East. After leaving the jail we 
rode onto a hill which gave us a fine view 
of the city, and then descended to the sea- 
shore, where the setting sun gilding the 



2>& A HOLIDAY IN 

tops of some of the hills on the opposite 
side of the bay, and leaving others in 
shadow while it cast a rosy light on the 
softly lapping waves of the Mediterranean, 
made a picture which filled us with delight. 
We stopped in Gibraltar a couple of days 
before crossing over here. From Grenada 
we went to Algeciras, only a short distance 
from Gibraltar, on a new railroad lately 
finished. This portion of the road is in 
English hands, and is under the manage- 
ment of a Scotchman named Morrison. 
We met on the way a gentleman whose 
acquaintance we had made before in going 
from Tarragona to Certoza. He told us 
that he was travelling in Spain for the 
purpose of obtaining information with re- 
gard to the life and career of Pedro de 
Luna, a Spaniard, who was made Pope 
under the title of Benedict the Thirteenth, 
and afterwards declared schismatic by the 
Council of Constance. During the time 
that he occupied the Papal throne, he 
founded the University of St. Andrews in 
Scotland, and this gentleman, who was a 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 39 

Scotchman, was endeavoring on behalf of 
the university to learn something more 
than has hitherto been known of its orig- 
inator. On this journey to Algeciras, we 
had the finest scenery that we have been 
favored with anywhere in Spain. For 
some distance the mountains and ravines 
were quite as fine as anything we have 
seen in the Austrian Tyrol, and even sug- 
gested the magnificent journey over the 
St. Gothard pass. A few miles from Al- 
geciras we came to some beautiful forests 
of cork trees. Their aspect was most 
refreshing, as we had seen no tall trees, 
except at Grenada, since entering Spain. 
These cork woods are a great place of 
resort for picnic parties from Gibraltar, 
and there was one in them at the time we 
arrived, waiting for our train to take them 
home. At Algeciras there is a pier built 
out into the sea, so that we could at once 
go on board the little steamer that was 
to take us over to Gibraltar. This pier, 
which is the only one to be found any- 
where in that part of the Mediterranean, 



40 A HOLIDAY IN 

is the result of the efforts of Mr. Morrison, 
who, as we have said, is the manager of 
the road. He told a friend of ours that, 
for some months after the pier was built, 
his life was in danger on account of the 
indignation of the boatmen at having their 
means of a livelihood interfered with. 
Everywhere else, at Gibraltar, Tangier, 
and Cadiz, we had to leave the steamer 
and get out into little boats to be rowed 
or sailed ashore. It is most annoying and 
even dangerous when there is a strong 
wind and the surf is high. At Tangier 
the passengers have frequently to be car- 
ried ashore on the backs of slaves. It 
seemed to us very surprising that the 
British government, which has done so 
much at Gibraltar and done it so well, 
building fortifications and a sea-wall of so 
magnificent a character, should have no 
pier, and consequently subject all visitors 
to such inconveniences. Gibraltar pleases 
us very much, as it had done on a previ- 
ous visit. Al thou eh we did not have the 
curious sight which greeted us before, of 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 4 1 

little donkeys a few days old being carried 
about in panniers on the backs of their 
mothers, we saw much else that was in- 
teresting. The Sunday afternoon that we 
were there we had one of the finest ocean 
drives that has ever fallen to our lot. It 
was to Europa Point, which juts out into 
the sea close to a high rock rising pre- 
cipitously from the waves to the height 
of between one and two hundred feet. It 
seemed strange to us to get back to 
pounds, shillings, and pence, after having 
had pesetas and reals so long; but we had 
only just become accustomed to the Eng- 
lish money, when we came over here where 
there is such a mixture that it is difficult 
to find out what you owe for anything. 
Sometimes it is shillings, sometimes pese- 
tas, sometimes francs, and then there is a 
currency peculiar, to Morocco, of which we 
do not even know the name. On the way 
over from Gibraltar, we noticed in the boat 
two youths of a brown complexion, dressed 
handsomely in the Moorish costume, who 
we judged were persons of some distinc- 



42 A HOLIDAY IN 

tion. The sequel proved that we were 
correct, for after awhile our Scotch friend, 
who was very familiar with everything re- 
lating to Morocco, having spent much 
time there, recognized them as the sons 
of the Shereef of Wasan. In a short time 
their mother appeared, and our friend, who 
was acquainted with her, presented all our 
party to her. She was a white woman 
from England, who had gone to Morocco 
to take the position of governess in a 
family of note, and there had made the 
acquaintance of the aforesaid native prince, 
the Shereef of Wasan, who proposed to 
her to become one of his wives. She con- 
sented, thinking, no doubt, that the posi- 
tion of the wife of a noble Moor, even if 
one among many, was preferable to that 
of a poor governess. We were not of 
the same way of thinking, but it was she 
who had to make the choice, not we. 
When we landed at Tangier, the arrival of 
the two elegantly apparelled youths caused 
a great sensation, and, although the rain 
was falling heavily, they were followed by 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 43 

a crowd as they made their way through 
the streets on foot, of course, as there 
seemed to be no other means of locomo- 
tion practicable, to their abode. We 
hoped that we might be able to enter a 
mosque here, but we find that it is not 
allowed. We have heard, however, the 
call at sunset from the priest, followed by 
a chorus of voices, " There is no God but 
Allah, and Mahomet is His prophet !" 
Even the animals in the streets seem to 
partake of some of the curious habits of 
the people. The dogs lie down flat in the 
road, right in the way of donkeys, horses, 
mules, and all the passers-by, and go 
sound asleep, so sound that they look as 
if they were dead. If a dog in our coun- 
try should do such a thing, we should 
think he had softening of the brain. The 
donkeys, too, poor, ill-used creatures, are 
so familiar with the human race that, as 
Cowper says, " their tameness is shocking 
to view." One day, when I was going 
down a slight incline in the street, on 
the uncomfortable cobble-stones, I felt 



44 A HOLIDAY IN 

something with a rather heavy foot step- 
ping on my dross behind me. As the 
garment in question was not very long, I 
thought how unpleasantly near some man 
must be to me, and turned around to re- 
monstrate, when, behold, it was a donkey. 
We must quit, however, this interesting 
place, with its delightful climate and its 
many contradictions of pleasure and dis- 
comfort, and go to Cadi.: in order to com- 
plete our Spanish tour. 



Skvu if, May 23, 1S94. 

Dear . 

This is one of the most interesting 
cities of Spain, and we have found so 
much to see, beside being very comfortable 
in an unusually nice hotel, that we have 
been here nearly a week, and do not in- 
tend to leave until after the celebration of 
the festival of Corpus Christi, which takes 
place to-morrow. We have been told 
that nowhere in Spain, indeed, nowhere in 
the whole world, is Corpus Christi cele- 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 45 

brated as it is here. There is a wonderfully 
curious ceremony, which is to be seen no- 
where but here— a dance by the young men 
and boys of the choir, which is to take 
place after mass, and when this is over 
there is to be a grand procession through 
the principal streets of the city. Strangers 
are staying over to-morrow to witness the 
unusual spectacle, and seats in balconies 
and windows along the route of the pro- 
cession are bringing a high price. Awnings 
are being put up to protect those march- 
ing underneath from the sun, — or rain, in 
case the weather should not be propitious, 
— and the whole city is beginning to put 
on an air of animation and excitement. I 
am sorry to say that the ceremonies, or 
shall I say festivities, of the day, are to be 
terminated by a bull-fight in the afternoon. 
Not only here, but in Grenada, and I do 
not know how many other places, there 
are to be bull-fights, or, as the Spaniards 
call them, " corridas de toros," to-morrow 
afternoon. The following notice that I 
have copied is one that is posted up at the 



46 A HOLIDAY IN 

entrance to our hotel where everybody 
can read it : 

" The first grand bull-fight in Grenada 
[first of the season, it means] will take 
place on the 24th of May, Corpus Christi, 
when six fine bulls, bred by Senor D. Ed- 
uardo Miuro, of Seville, will be killed, the 
matadors being the celebrated swordsmen, 
Mazzantini and Lagartijillo. 

" The second grand bull-fight follows on 
Sunday, 27th of May, when six fine bulls, 
bred by Senor D. Jose Orozeo, will be 
killed, the matadors being the famous 
swordsmen, Guarrita and Bombita." 

An American acquaintance of ours pass- 
ing along one of the principal streets 
lately saw a crowd collected, and, going 
up to find out what was the matter, saw 
posted up the head of a. bull, killed in a 
" corrida" lately, which had been bred by 
the Duke of Veragua (the guest of the 
United States, last summer), and which 
had performed such wonders in killing 
three horses outright that his head had 
been preserved for exhibition. The Pope 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 47 

has just been dealing a blow at this cher- 
ished institution of the Spaniards, but it 
will endure many blows, we imagine, before 
it succumbs, it is so deeply rooted in the 
affections of the Spanish people. It is 
almost inconceivable that any amusement 
involving such horrible cruelty should be 
so popular with a people who seem, as a 
general thing, kind and gentle, but so it 
is. We are very glad, however, to have 
met with several Spaniards who object to 
it strongly, and have made a gesture of 
repulsion when asked if they were going 
to the bull -fight to-morrow. "God 
never leaves himself without a witness in 
any people or nation," so we are told in 
Holy Writ. We came all the way from 
Tangier to Cadiz by steamboat, and a 
more uncomfortable journey we hope 
never to have to take again. It occupied 
about five hours, and we were all more or 
less sea-sick. The Mediterranean is beau- 
tiful to look at, but very unpleasant to 
sail on. There appears to be always, even 
when it is the most quiet, a slight swell, 



48 A HOLIDAY IN 

very favorable to "mal de mer." We 
noticed it at Tangier when we went out 
in a row-boat on the bay, on a lovely even- 
ing with very little wind. 

Upon arriving in Cadiz, we had to leave 
the steamer and be taken to the shore in 
a small sail-boat, and then to pass the cus- 
tom-house. We thought for once that we 
would try a purely Spanish hotel, as all 
of those that we have patronized hereto- 
fore have been more or less French in 
their style of cooking and in their general 
management. We were very glad that we 
did so, as it was an experience we liked 
to have once, if not oftener, so we went 
to the " Cuatro Naciones." Nearly all 
the dishes at the dejeuner and dinner had 
garlic in them. It spoiled the fish for us, 
but we liked the salad, in which there was 
a plentiful supply, better than any we have 
had. Some of the streets here have very 
curious names. Our hotel in Cadiz was 
in Isabella la Catolica, and we have noticed 
others that seem strange to us, such as 
Angel de Sevadra, Reyes Catolicos, Fer- 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 49 

nan Caballero, and the one we are in here 
is Mendez Nunez. Most of the streets 
are so narrow in all the cities of Spain, 
except perhaps Madrid, that two carriages 
cannot pass each other, so that certain 
ones are marked " Entrada de carruajes" 
(entrance for carriages), and others, "Sa- 
lida de carruajes" (exit for carriages). On 
the way from Cadiz here in the train, we 
saw the immense salt works, which begin 
just after leaving that city. Large square 
or quadrangular basins are built, into which 
the sea-water is introduced and left to 
stand for some time, when the salt is ob- 
tained by evaporation. Great masses of 
it in a pyramidal shape stood at the side 
of the road, some of them so immense as 
to suggest the pyramid of Cheops. Salt 
is here, as in Italy, a government monop- 
oly, and there are shops for the sale of 
salt and tobacco alone. The country here, 
in the southwest of Spain, is less attractive 
than that we have seen before. We 
noticed one novelty in the shape of hedges 
of the aloe or century plant, varied occa- 



50 A HOLIDAY IN 

sionally by a variety of the cactus, which 
grows to a considerable height, and has 
immense leaves with yellow blossoms 
growing out of the leaves, as in all the 
cactus family. These, with a date palm 
here and there, made the vegetation as- 
sume quite a tropical appearance. Cadiz 
is a pretty, neat-looking city, with few at- 
tractions in the way of sight-seeing. Here 
it is different. One of the most noted of 
the places of interest in Seville is the Al- 
cazar, a Moorish palace in the style of the 
Alhambra, and even more beautiful we 
thought, although not so picturesquely 
situated. It is right in the heart of the 
city, close to the great cathedral. The Hall 
of Ambassadors is superb, and another 
very beautiful room is that in which one 
of the Spanish infantas was born. Very 
fine and extensive gardens partially sur- 
round the building, of which a number of 
the walks are so arranged that, when the 
water is turned on, fountain-like sprays 
are thrown up into the air from little holes 
at even distances all along the pavement, 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 5 1 

cooling the air and laying any dust that 
may have settled there. The cathedral is 
very fine, but we could not see it to ad- 
vantage, as it is in process of repair on 
account of the destruction caused by the 
earthquake six years ago. Several of the 
immense pillars were so much injured that 
a considerable portion of the ceiling fell 
in, and it is a work of years to replace it. 
It is in this cathedral, in one of the chapels, 
that we found the celebrated picture, by 
Murillo, of St. Anthony of Padua, in which 
the figure of St. Anthony was cut out 
several years ago by a man who concealed 
himself in the church, and carried to New 
York and there exposed for sale. The 
theft was discovered and the portion of 
the picture that was taken returned here, 
and has been most skilfully restored to its 
original place. The bell-tower of the 
cathedral, called the Giralda, is one of the 
most beautiful in the world. On the top, 
acting as a weather-cock by pointing to- 
ward the direction in which the wind blows, 
is a figure of Faith, so skilfully constructed 



52 A HOLIDAY IN 

that it turns with the lightest breeze, al- 
though it weighs between two and three 
thousand pounds. The ascent of the 
Giralda is not made by steps, but by a 
gradual incline, so it is not at all fatiguing 
to go to the top. When there, a fine view 
can be obtained of the city and surround- 
ing country ; but it is vastly inferior to that 
from the Torre de Vela in Grenada, there 
being no mountains to diversify the scene. 
In the Museum here are a number of fine 
paintings by Murillo, who was born in 
Seville, and to whom his native city does 
honor in various ways. There is a fine 
statue of him in front of the Museum. 
One of the curiosities of Seville is a house 
purporting to be an exact copy of that of 
Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem. We were 
told that it was precisely like it, and we 
entered full of faith ; but when we saw a 
building covered with Moorish ornamenta- 
tion, we began to doubt, and the climax 
of our incredulity was reached when we 
were shown an inlaid table that we were 
assured was the exact counterpart of that 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 53 

on which the thirty pieces of silver were 
laid down when they were paid to Judas 
Iscariot. From that moment we were 
ready to leave, voting in our own minds 
the whole thing a farce. Much more in- 
teresting and worthy of consideration we 
found the ruins of the Colosseum at Italica, 
a few miles from Seville. They are re- 
markably well preserved and much in the 
style of the Roman Colosseum. We were 
shown the dens under ground where the 
lions and tigers were kept, and the open- 
ings through which they dashed into the 
amphitheatre, the room where the gladi- 
ators prepared themselves for contest, 
and another which purported to be that 
where the Christians, who were to be 
thrown to the wild beasts, were confined. 
The Roman emperors are said to have 
been born at Italica, and what surprised 
us still more was to learn that Pontius 
Pilate was a Spaniard. This did not pre- 
vent his being a Roman subject, as he was 
born in that part of Spain which at that 
time belonged to Rome. 



54 A HOLIDAY IN 

We went, one day, to the great tobacco 
factory of Seville. It gives occupation to 
six thousand women and girls, although 
some of them, we are told, are very poorly 
paid. Many of them are mothers, and 
take their babies or young children with 
them to the factory. When walking 
through the different rooms and watching 
the operation of making the cigars and 
cigarettes, we saw numerous little ones 
lying asleep at the side of their mothers. 
Some of the girls ma k e as higfh as four 
thousand cigarettes in a day. Of course 
we had Carmen in our minds from the 
time we entered the building until we left 
it. It was in Seville that the tobacco fac- 
tory, in which she is represented in the 
opera to have worked, was situated. A 
few of the girls that we saw were pretty, 
the majority not at all so. We think that 
Mark Twain, when he described in his 
" Innocents Abroad" the women of Seville 
as so beautiful, must have drawn largely 
on his imagination. The Spanish women 
generally, that we have seen, have not 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 55 

impressed us in the way of looks. They 
have very little expression or play of 
feature, and that little they lessen by 
covering their faces with powder. The 
prettiest girl we have met since entering 
Spain is our chambermaid at this hotel, 
who rejoices in the name of Pepa and who 
does not powder. That custom appears 
to be confined mostly to women of the 
higher classes. 

The Hotel de Madrid, where we are 
staying, is said to be the best in all Spain. 
It certainly is the best that we have seen. 
It is patronized by the Princess Eulalia 
and her husband, Don Antonio, the son 
of the Duke of Montpensier, when they 
come here in the winter to visit the 
Dowager Duchess of Montpensier, who 
lives in a fine palace near the river. The 
principal drive of Seville is past this palace 
and then along the bank of the Guadal- 
quivir. We were there yesterday, and 
were surprised to see among the eques- 
trians so many little boys. We saw one 
on a pony's back who did not look over 



56 A HOLIDAY IN 

four or five years old, and a number only 
on spirited horses which they managed 
admirably. When we leave here for 
Madrid, we must start at six o'clock in 
the evening, and spend all night in the 
car. It is one of the unpleasing peculiar- 
ities of travel in Spain that nearly all the 
express trains leave at night, and, " nolens 
volens," one is obliged to take them when 
going a considerable distance, as, if one of 
the day trains should be chosen, it would 
be all day and all night, too. Not only 
does the express for Madrid leave at night, 
but that from Madrid to San Sebastian, so 
that we have the prospect before us of two 
such journeys. A peculiarity of the pas- 
senger trains in Spain, and there is the 
same in France also, is, that a narrow ledge 
or platform runs all around them, on which 
the conductor walks while visiting the 
different cars to examine or collect the 
tickets. We have always thought it dan- 
gerous and felt afraid of some accident, 
and our apprehensions were verified in 
going from Grenada to Algeciras. The 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 57 

train stopped suddenly in the open coun- 
try. There was at once a great excite- 
ment among the passengers, who could 
not imagine what had happened, but pres- 
ently we were told the conductor had 
fallen off and had struck on his head. 
Fortunately he was not seriously hurt, and 
after a delay of a quarter of an hour we 
started again. It was suggested by some 
one that perhaps the reason why the trains 
in Spain go so slowly is that the conduct- 
ors may escape being killed when they 
fall off. This arrangement, like many 
others over here, would not suit our 
people very well. 



Dear . 

We have now reached the northern 
boundary, and when we quit this pretty 
watering-place our Spanish trip will be 
over. We stayed in Seville to witness 
the ceremonies of Corpus Christi, and 
then went on to Madrid. We were much 
pleased with the curious dance that we 
saw in the cathedral on the morning of 



58 A HOLIDAY IN 

the great feast, a performance that takes 
place nowhere in the world but in Seville. 
The consecrated host was exposed upon 
the altar, and ten boys danced before it 
for nearly half an hour. The boys were 
beautifully dressed and had castanets, which 
they used at intervals. The dance was a 
slow one, of the nature of a minuet, and 
the boys sang, as they danced, the same 
air that was played by the orchestra. The 
procession, which began immediately after 
the dance, though very fine in some re- 
spects, was a little disappointing. There 
was a great display of silver and em- 
broideries and fine vestments, but it did 
not seem so imposing as the simple pro- 
cessions we have at home, when the priest 
carries through the church the Blessed 
Sacrament, and little girls dressed as 
angels strew flowers in its path, while the 
altar boys immediately precede it, con- 
stantly throwing incense from their cen- 
sers. The eve of Corpus Christi the city 
was beautifully illuminated. As is the 
case at all Spanish festivals, women were 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 59 

cooking and selling in the streets bunue- 
los, a kind of doughnut fried in fat, which 
they kept hot by means of little furnaces. 
There was an immense crowd walking 
about, but every one seemed good-natured 
and disposed to be well behaved. We 
were obliged to admit that so great a 
throng of people in the streets at home 
would not have been so orderly. Late in 
the afternoon of Corpus Christi we left for 
Madrid, which we reached about ten the 
next morning. All the Spanish cities we 
had hitherto seen had been more or less 
of the same type, and all possessed the 
national characteristics, but we found, to 
our surprise, Madrid entirely different. 
The streets are as remarkably wide as 
those of the other cities are narrow. 
There are statues and fountains and gar- 
dens galore, but there is nothing distinctive 
about it. It might be Paris or New York 
or Berlin, or any of the modern cities of 
the world. It is very handsome, but did 
not interest us greatly. We like narrow 
streets and antique houses, and ruins and 



60 A HOLIDAY IN 

all the signs of age. As soon as possible 
we visited the famous picture gallery so 
renowned for its paintings by Murillo and 
Velasquez. There are also several Raph- 
aels and Andrea del Sartos, and a large 
number of Riberas. This gallery we 
found the greatest place of attraction in 
Madrid, but the Armory proved also ex- 
tremely interesting. It is probably the 
finest collection of armor of different styles 
and epochs in the world. We saw several 
complete suits that were worn by Charles 
the Fifth, some that were made for Philip 
the Second and his son Don Carlos, one 
that was made for Don John of Austria, 
and a number worn by Philip the Fourth. 
We saw also the sword of Isabella the 
Catholic. Why she had a sword, we do not 
know, but there it was before our eyes ; so 
we were obliged to believe it. We drove 
one afternoon in the beautiful park called 
"El Retiro," and, before entering it, we 
saw the Queen with the little King, who 
were on their way to the church that they 
visit every Saturday afternoon. The open 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 6 1 

carriage in which they sat had outriders, 
and in addition was preceded and followed 
by a number of mounted soldiers in gay 
uniforms. The Queen was tastefully 
dressed in a lilac bonnet and lilac silk 
dress or wrap. She has never worn any 
color but black or white or purple since her 
husband's death. The little King, who is 
eight years old and a delicate-looking child, 
was dressed mostly in white, with a wide- 
brimmed white straw hat. We should 
have known them, I think, even without 
" all the pomp and circumstance of state" 
that surrounded them, from seeing their 
photographs, which are sold in all the 
book-stores, and are excellent likenesses. 
I must retract what I said in a former let- 
ter about the beauty of Spanish women, 
so far as Madrid is concerned. We saw 
a number of very handsome girls while 
driving, and were impressed with the idea 
that it was rare to see on such an occa- 
sion so great an amount of good looks. 
We left Madrid on Saturday evening, and 
stopped at Burgos at five o'clock in the 



62 A HOLIDAY IN 

morning, in order to see the great cathe- 
dral. We found that it differed from 
others we have visited in having its mas- 
sive pillars adorned with statues, skil- 
fully carved out of solid stone. These 
statues stand out all around the upper 
portions of the pillars, and have a very 
curious and beautiful effect. The stone- 
work of the cathedral throughout is won- 
derful. We should have been better able 
to enjoy it if it had not been so early in 
the morning when we saw it, after a par- 
tially sleepless night. Its beauty was 
much interfered with, in our opinion, by 
having the choir placed in the middle of 
the church, and entirely preventing the 
grand effect that one has in great Gothic 
cathedrals, when standing at the entrance 
and looking up the nave to the high altar. 
It is this view which is so magnificent in 
the Cologne cathedral. There was little 
else of interest in Burgos, and the hotels 
are said to be very poor, so, after remain- 
ing a few hours, we came on here. But 
few of the hotels in Spain are really good ; 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 6$ 

with the exception of the Hotel de Madrid, 
in Seville, we did not find one to which 
we could give anything like unqualified 
praise. The food and cooking in most of 
them are poor, according to American 
ideas. We should sometimes have found 
it difficult to take enough to satisfy our 
hunger, had it not been for the oranges 
which were always on the table at the 
dejeuner and dinner, and which were, as a 
general thing, delicious. The milk used 
is usually goat's milk, which is very un- 
palatable in its natural state, but which, 
when boiled, answers very well for coffee 
and for all ordinary cooking purposes. 
The butter and cheese made from it are 
not agreeable to the American taste. In 
some places, however, we succeeded in 
getting cow's milk. The want of ice 
makes a great difference in the meat. It 
has to be cooked so fresh that it is hard 
and tough. We saw at least one estab- 
lishment for the manufacturing of artificial 
ice ; and we were told that it was not dear, 
so why it does not come into general use 



64 A HOLIDAY IN 

we can't imagine, unless it is because the 
people have become so accustomed to 
doing without it, they don't desire any 
change. I have not yet spoken of one 
important institution in Spain, that of the 
Guarda Civil. This is a band of picked 
men taken from the soldiery, and selected 
on account of their courage and other fine 
qualities. Some of them were on every 
train by which we travelled, and they are 
placed wherever there is need of them 
throughout the country. We were told 
that before the establishment of this guard, 
lawlessness prevailed, and that robberies 
on the trains were of frequent occurrence. 
Now that is all changed, and order and 
good government appear to be found 
everywhere. The Queen is said to have 
shown herself a most efficient ruler, 
and to have finally brought over to her 
side so eminent an advocate of republi- 
canism as Emilio Castellar. For all that, 
she is not very popular with the people at 
large, principally because she is not a 
Spaniard. I was talking with a Spanish 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 65 

lady in Barcelona on the subject, and I 
said I could not understand why the Queen 
was not more popular, if she were so good 
a woman and so excellent a ruler. " Why, 
you would not like," she replied, " to have 
a foreigner, President of the United States, 
to rule over you." This certainly was an 
"argumentum ad feminam," and for a 
moment I was silenced, but, after a little 
reflection, I told her that I did not believe 
I should mind it, provided he were de- 
voted to republican principles and to the 
true interests of our country. The Queen 
and her son have certainly a noble dwel- 
ling place. The Royal Palace at Madrid 
is said to be the finest kingly residence in 
Europe. We could not go over it, be- 
cause it is only exhibited to strangers 
when the Queen is not there ; but we 
stood in the great square in front and 
looked down upon the beautiful view of 
the valley lying before us and the Guada- 
marra mountains in the distance. As to 
whether the palace is the finest in Europe, 
there may be some difference of opinion, 
5 



60 A HOLIDAY IN SPAIN AND NORWAY 

but there can be little doubt that few have 
such a panorama of loveliness stretched 
out before the gaze of their inhabitants. 
The Queen in summer comes here to San 
Sebastian, where she has a villa, and of 
which she is said to be very fond. It is a 
romantic, rock-bound coast, a little in the 
style of Newport, with a short stretch of 
beach, where the bathers disport them- 
selves. We start soon for the frontier on 
our way to Lourdes, and so good-bye to 
old Spain, which, in spite of all its draw- 
backs, its bull-fights, its want of education 
among the inhabitants, and the low rank 
it takes among the nations, is to many a 
land of enchantment and delight. 



NORWAY 



Balholm, Sognefiord, Norway, July 20, 1894. 

Dear . 

One week ago, to-day, we began our 
travels in this land of lakes, fiords, and 
mountains, of glaciers and avalanches. 
We first came over from England, cross- 
ing in the steamer El Dorado from Hull 
to Stavanger, and a week ago we began 
our present trip from Stavanger in the 
south to Molde in the north — a journey 
which includes most of the finest scenery 
of Norway — by going through the fiord 
on which Stavanger is situated to Sand. 
There we took one of the vehicles of the 
country, the stohlkjaerre with a fine Nor- 
wegian pony, and were driven by a small 
boy to Oosen on the Sudal lake. Oosen 
is a small place, containing only a few 
houses, two of which are rustic hotels. 
We chose the more attractive-looking one 
of the two, but found our entertainment 
of a most primitive character. We could 

69 



JO A HOLIDAY IN 

not obtain any supper until nine o'clock, 
and then found the " piece de resistance" 
to be reindeer, which some of our party 
did not incline to eat. The bread was 
very poor, the tea and coffee, ditto, but 
with some crackers and poached eggs, we 
managed to make a meal. What was 
lacking in creature comforts was com- 
pensated for by picturesque surroundings. 
Directly opposite our lodging place, eu- 
phemistically termed a hotel, a cliff rose 
precipitously from the lake to the height 
of ten or twelve hundred feet. It pre- 
sented a sheer, straight wall of rock, just 
such, was remarked by one of the party, 
as would have suited a South Sea Islander 
for one of his famous leaps. The water 
below was of a deep blue, and of the ex- 
treme clearness which characterizes most 
of the lakes and mountain streams in 
Norway. I cannot imagine anything more 
pellucid than this beautiful water ; there is 
not a suspicion of mud or dirt connected 
with it, and in its purity and loveliness it 
seems to me emblematic of the character 



SPAIN AND NORWAY ' 7 1 

of the people which strikes us as abound- 
ing in charming qualities. They have not 
yet been contaminated by coming into 
contact with the outside world, but whether 
this will long be the case, with such an 
influx of tourists, as is now taking place, 
appears rather doubtful. We have seen 
but one beggar since entering Norway, 
and the relief is great to those who have 
been afflicted as we have in Italy and Spain 
and Morocco with a legion of mendi- 
cants. 

Leaving Oosen the next morning, we 
went in a little steamer through the beau- 
tiful Sudal lake to Naes, where we took 
our dinner, and there hiring a vehicle, we 
proceeded through the wonderful Brat- 
lands dal or valley to Horre. There are 
no railroads anywhere in this part of the 
country with the exception of one from 
Vosswanger to Bergen, so there is noway 
of travelling except by boats when on the 
water and carriages on land. These latter 
are of three kinds,— the landau drawn ^ by 
two horses and the stohlkjaerre and cariole 



72 A HOLIDAY IN 

by one. The cariole is a peculiar vehicle, 
consisting of one small seat and a long 
narrow stretch of board for the legs of 
the occupant, which are extended lon- 
gitudinally and protected by a slightly 
raised piece of wood in front. In both 
this and the stohlkjaerre the driver sits 
or stands behind, unless the passenger 
chooses to drive himself. The stohlkjaerre 
is somewhat similar to the cariole, except 
that it has a seat wide enough for two 
persons, and a place in front, like ordinary 
vehicles, for the feet. The landau is the 
same as a landau everywhere, with a top 
that can be drawn up or let down at will. 
In all of these carriages there is a small 
space behind for light baggage, but not 
for trunks. Very few persons travel with 
trunks, but those who do, are obliged to 
have an extra cart or wagon in which to 
carry them, as their extra weight would 
be too much for the stout little ponies 
when ascending the hills. Although it 
was raining when we entered the Brat- 
lands dal, as it had been doing most of 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 73 

the time since we arrived in Norway, the 
beauty of the scenery rendered us insen- 
sible to all considerations of discomfort. 
We were lost in admiration at what we 
saw around us, — a narrow gorge with high 
cliffs on either side, rising sometimes to 
an astonishing height, a mountain torrent 
rushing through it with an almost deafen- 
ing roar, foaming and boiling, so that 
sometimes for a quarter of a mile we 
could see nothing but spray and foam, 
except when on the edge it ran a little 
more quietly, flowing into pools and shal- 
lows, and giving us an opportunity to see 
its exquisite emerald green color. At 
times it was nearly on a level with the 
road, at others so far beneath it as to be 
almost out of sight, the precipitous wall of 
the chasm on the other side from the road 
rising higher and higher than before, and 
increasing, if that were possible, the sub- 
limity of the view. I have been in the 
Bernese Oberland, and over the St. 
Gothard pass, as well as in the Tyrol and 
in some of the finest scenery of the Rocky 



74 A HOLIDAY IN 

Mountains, but I was never more im- 
pressed, I think, than by this charming 
valley. 

Upon arriving at Horre, or Breifond, as 
it is sometimes called, we found the hotel 
very full, as is generally the case, this 
being just at the height of the tourist 
season, but we were so fortunate as finally 
to secure a room. We were waited upon, 
as we have been elsewhere, by girls in the 
native costume, — viz., a white muslin cor- 
sage with full sleeves, and over it a red 
sleeveless jacket, reaching only to the 
waist, with straps over the shoulders and 
much ornamented in front. This is worn 
with a black skirt and usually the addition 
of a white apron. Most of the Nor- 
wegians are fair, with very light hair, so 
much so, that it is a matter of remark 
when we see among the waitresses one 
with dark hair. 

Leaving Breifond the next morning, we 
had a long drive by stohlkjaerre to Odde, 
on the Hardanger fiord, where we arrived 
about the middle of the afternoon. Our 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 75 

way at first led over the Horrebraekker 
pass, and to reach it we were obliged to 
ascend a mountain so high that, by the 
time we reached the top, we found our- 
selves surrounded by snow. The gentle- 
men of our party walked up the moun- 
tain, the ladies accompanying them a por- 
tion of the distance, but were unable to 
make the whole ascent on foot. It was 
while walking up this mountain that we 
made our first acquaintance with the 
lemming, an animal peculiar to the Scandi- 
navian peninsula. A little creature sud- 
denly ran out before us from its hole in 
the rocks. We were lost in astonishment, 
never having seen the like before. It 
partook of the characteristics of the 
guinea-pig, the ground squirrel, and the 
mole, and yet was not either. It was very 
small, with four short legs, and a mere 
apology for a tail, covered with brown 
fur except on the back, where it was beau- 
tifully marked with white and brown alter- 
nating. It ran rapidly, and soon hid itself 
behind a stone. We have seen numbers 



J6 A HOLIDAY IN 

of them since then, and have learned that 
they abound in Norway. They are grami- 
nivorous, feeding mostly on seeds and roots. 
The reindeer is perhaps their greatest 
enemy, often killing them, not for their 
flesh, but for the vegetable matter in their 
stomachs. They have a singular habit, it 
is said, of sometimes collecting together 
in herds and travelling towards the west ; 
when reaching a river, they swim across 
it. Finally, they arrive at the sea, when, 
not knowing apparently the difference, 
they plunge into it, and after swimming 
for some time are drowned. 

The road over the Horrebraekker pass 
had just been cleared of snow everywhere 
except in one place, where we were all 
obliged to get out of the carriages and 
walk over the frozen surface. The scenery, 
though so different from that of the day 
before, had its own peculiar charm. The 
snow, in many places five and six feet 
deep, had begun to thaw under the in- 
fluence of a summer sun, and everywhere 
streams of the purest, clearest water were 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 77 

flowing down the hills. In one spot, where 
there was a hollow among the mountains, 
they had formed a lake of the same beau- 
tiful green color that characterizes the 
mountain streams. Descending finally 
into the valley, we stopped at Odde, where 
we remained over Sunday. On the way, 
we stopped to see the Laate foss, an un- 
usually fine waterfall, which we admired 
more than any we have seen. It is in 
several tiers, there being one descent 
above another, and it finally divides and 
ends in two cascades of a magnificent 
height, separated from each other by a 
huge rock. 

Odde is a great tourist centre, and, 
being at the head of the Sor fiord, there 
is a constant communication by steamer 
between it and Bergen. It has a pretty 
little church, to which scarcely any one 
went the Sunday we were there. It is 
the custom of the surrounding country 
for the people to attend this church in 
their native costume once in three weeks. 
The married women wear a peculiar 



78 A HOLIDAY IN 

white cap or head-dress, made with a 
border, into which a stiffener is intro- 
duced so as to make it stand out all 
around the face. It then descends in the 
back in several stiff rolls nearly to the 
waist. We regretted greatly that the 
Sunday we were there did not happen 
to be the right one to give us an oppor- 
tunity to see them. There are two favor- 
ite excursions from Odde, — one to the 
Buar brae, a glacier which is an offshoot 
from the Folgefond, and the other to a 
water-fall called the Skaegedals foss, which 
is one of the largest in Europe, but which 
several who had been there told us they 
did not admire so much as the Laate foss. 
I must explain that " foss" is the Norwe- 
gian word for cataract, " brae" for glacier. 
" dal" for valley, and " vaud" for water or 
lake. 

Upon leaving Odde, we drove to Vos- 
sewangen, where we took the train for 
Bergen. This is the only railroad in the 
western part of Norway, and is a model 
of engineering skill. It is only seventy 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 79 

miles long, but cost an immense amount 
of money on account of the difficulty of 
cutting through the mountains nearly 
every foot of the way. Short as it is, it 
has fifty-five tunnels. It took us about 
three hours to reach Bergen. Upon 
arriving, we went to Holt's Hotel, which 
is considered the best in the city, and is 
pleasantly situated near the public park, 
where a fine band plays every evening in 
summer from nine o'clock until eleven. It 
seems strange that it should begin at such 
an hour and continue so late, but every- 
thing in Norway, so far as the even- 
ings are concerned, is late, which we at- 
tribute to the extreme length of the days, 
causing nine o'clock to seem as seven 
does in our country. Dinner is usually 
in the middle of the day and supper at 
eight or half-past eight o'clock. This 
would be very inconvenient were there 
places of entertainment to be attended 
in the evenings, but there did not appear 
to be any. 

We stayed a day and a half in Bergen, 



80 A HOLIDAY IN 

and found it an interesting city, very 
picturesquely situated. We were par- 
ticularly charmed with the street called 
the Torv Almenigen or Market Square. 
It is short and extremely wide, with the 
markets occupying the lower portion of 
it, and at either end a background of 
mountains rising up in silent majesty 
like sentinels guarding the city. A 
statue to a prominent Norwegian named 
Christie ornaments the centre of this 
interesting street. There are a good 
many fine shops both here and in the 
Strand Gade, containing a great variety 
of articles of the celebrated Norwegian 
silver work, and other industries of the 
country. We visited the picture-gallery, 
but it is not one of remarkable merit. 
Upon leaving Bergen we returned to 
Vossewangen, and there took a carriage 
for Stalheim. This time we had a landau 
with two horses; but it did not seem to be 
any easier for them to draw two persons 
(our party was for the nonce reduced to 
two) than it has been for the little Nor- 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 8 1 

wegian pony that we usually have. This 
breed of ponies is remarkable. They 
appear to possess great strength and en- 
durance, climbing hills like a cat, and 
always sure-footed and reliable. They 
are mostly of a light roan or cream color. 
They are accustomed to walk slowly up 
hill, but they make the descent of all ex- 
cept the very highest with the greatest 
rapidity. The manner in which they 
dash down the hills makes me hold my 
breath, and reminds me of stories I have 
heard of the way in which the old stage- 
coaches were driven. Nothing but coast- 
ing or tobogganing can compare with it. 
These charming ponies are fat and in 
good condition in every respect, and seem 
to be very well treated by their drivers, 
a whip being scarcely ever used upon 
them. They are driven generally by 
boys, but sometimes by men, and occa- 
sionally by women or little girls. It 
seemed very strange to us the first time 
we saw a little maiden of eleven or twelve 
years of age get up behind a cariole to 

6 



82 A HOLIDAY IN 

conduct a gentleman on the next stage of 
his journey. 

We reached the hotel at Stalheim in 
the middle of the afternoon and remained 
until the next morning. This is one of 
the most celebrated places in Norway, 
and nothing that we have seen, except 
the Bratland's dal, has pleased us so much. 
Situated on a mountain, surrounded by 
sister peaks rearing their heads still 
higher towards the heavens and looking 
down upon the Eredal, the hotel com- 
mands a magnificent view. As we ap- 
proached it, the Eredal appeared to be 
a mere gorge or opening in the moun- 
tains, but upon coming nearer we could 
see that it was a splendid valley, narrow 
throughout its whole extent and grad- 
ually growing wilder and more sombre, 
but at Stalheim of sufficient width to 
allow of the cultivation of a number of 
fields bearing the usual crops of oats, 
barley, and potatoes. Nothing else ex- 
cept grass will apparently do well in these 
latitudes. The climate is too cold for 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 8$ 

wheat, and there does not seem to be an 
attempt on the part of any one to have 
a vegetable garden. There is, conse- 
quently, a great deficiency in this impor- 
tant part of the cuisine. We have con- 
stantly the finest fish — salmon and trout 
as well as other varieties — in great abun- 
dance, a moderate supply of meat, that 
placed before us being sometimes beef, 
sometimes reindeer or kid, as the case 
may be, but no vegetables of any account 
beside potatoes, and very little fruit. 

Leaving Stalheim the next morning, 
we walked down the mountain, the result 
being an attack of lameness on the part 
of one of us, from the excessive use of 
muscles unaccustomed to such exertion, 
and then drove through the magnificent 
Eredal to Gutwangen, where we took the 
steamer on the Sognefiord for this place, 
— Balholm, — beautifully situated near the 
head of one of the arms of the fiord. The 
air is very mild here, the fiord a charm- 
ing place for water excursions, so that it 
is a very popular spot with the English, 



84 A HOLIDAY IN 

some of whom come to reside during the 
summer. After our arrival, about three 
o'clock in the afternoon, we hired a row- 
boat, and spent an hour and a half on the 
fiord in a most enjoyable manner. From 
Balholm it is customary to go into the 
Fierland fiord, another arm of the bay, 
and make an excursion to the Jostedal 
brae, the largest glacier in Europe. It 
covers an immense area of ground, and 
extends its branches in twenty-four points 
down towards the level of the lakes and 
fiords. Those who are not strong enough 
to climb to its summit to view it in all its 
glory, can have their vision gladdened, 
when sailing on the neighboring waters, 
by a sight of these immense spectral arms 
lighting up the landscape with their glit- 
tering white surfaces, while on near in- 
spection the great mass of ice is found to 
be of a beautiful blue color. Balholm is 
such a charming spot, we were loath to 
leave it ; but the length of the trip we had 
yet to make did not allow us to linger 
there any longer. 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 85 

Hellesilt, July 24, 1894. 
Dear . 

We arrived last evening at this little 
village on the Nord fiord, after a day of 
hard travel, including a sail of several 
hours in the morning on the Nord fiord, 
and the whole of the rest of the day, ex- 
cept when we stopped to get our dinner, 
in driving- on the road. It was rather 
fatiguing, but not enough so to prevent 
our enjoying a good night's rest after it. 

Upon leaving Balholm we went in the 
steamer on the Sognefiord to Vadheim, 
and there we took stohlkjaerres for Forde. 
It was a long drive, and nearly the whole 
of it in a hard rain. Every day since we 
came to Norway it has rained more or 
less, generally more, until to-day. So 
much wet weather has interfered con- 
siderably with our comfort, being out of 
doors so much as we have been, from 
morning till night ; but if, instead of rain, 
we had been troubled with dust, it might 
have been even more disagreeable. We 



S6 A HOLIDAY IN 

had a remarkably fine horse — one, as we 
suppose, of the celebrated Forde breed — 
in our stohlkjaerre, and we dashed down 
the hills faster than ever before. When 
we reached the hotel at Forde in a very 
moist condition, we were greeted by two 
young men of our acquaintances, two 
Americans, who were travelling together, 
and who had preceded us by a few hours. 
They had left Vadheim the afternoon be- 
fore and had gone as far as Sande, where 
they spent the night. They told us of an 
adventure they had on the way, which 
came near ending seriously. They had 
only gone a short distance from Vadheim, 
when they perceived a boulder, which had 
come down from the mountains and fallen 
or rolled directly into the middle of the 
road. The roads in Norway are narrow 
at best, bordered on one side or both, 
instead of a fence, with large granite 
stones, set three or four feet apart, as pro- 
tection against accident. In this case the 
road on one side was at the foot of the 
mountains, and on the other was on the 



SPAIN AND NORWAY &7 

edee of an embankment or cliff, where 
there was a descent of about twenty-five 
or thirty feet to the ground below. When 
our friends found their way stopped by the 
great stone or boulder, they were in doubt 
what course to pursue. It was entirely too 
heavy to be rolled aside, so they had to 
devise some other plan. They got out of 
their stohlkjaerre and decided that they 
would eet the driver to lead the horse 
around the boulder, while they held up the 
two outside wheels of their vehicle, which 
hung over the cliff in mid-air, and so they 
thought they would conquer the difficulty. 
But they reckoned without their host in 
supposing they could do so, for, in the 
attempt, one of the wheels on the inside 
struck the boulder, and in an instant the 
horse and carriage went down the thirty 
feet, — the men, however, escaping. They 
feared the horse was killed or seriously 
injured, but in a little while he appeared 
to have recovered from the shock, and to 
be as well as ever. They had an hour 
of hard work before they could get their 



88 A HOLIDAY IN 

stohlkjaerre up the bank, and they arrived 
at Sande about midnight. 

We stayed only one night at Forde, and 
the next morning drove to Nedre Vasen- 
den, where we took a little steamer and 
went on the picturesque Jelstervaud to 
Skei or Skej, as it is sometimes spelled. 
We were troubled, as usual, with rain, 
which kept coming in upon us, although 
our boat had an awning, so that we were 
not sorry to disembark at Skei and remain 
until the next day. As that was Sunday, 
we concluded to take a little rest, and did 
not leave until the afternoon. This gave 
us an opportunity to see the peasantry 
driving by to their church, which was at a 
little distance from the hotel, for morning 
service. The native costume which they 
wore was quite different from that at Odde. 
There the married women had stiff white 
caps, which set out from the head like an 
aureole and descended in several pieces 
behind nearly to the waist. Here they 
wore peaked black velvet or stuff caps, 
which stood up some distance above their 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 89 

heads like a bishop's mitre, and were 
finished with a ruche where they came 
close to their faces. The unmarried girls 
in both places seemed to prefer dark- 
colored handkerchiefs of some cotton 
material tied over their heads. The dress 
of a bride is very singular in this part of 
Norway. She wears a metal crown on 
her head and numerous ornaments, in- 
cluding sometimes a looking-glass, on her 
breast. 

Some of the customs of the people are 
peculiar, one of the most so, that of shak- 
ing hands with a person who gives them 
anything or does them a favor. We are 
many times a day called upon to go through 
with this ceremony with the drivers of our 
stohlkjaerres, or the boatmen who have 
rowed us on the lakes. It wounds their 
feelings extremely if any one refuses to 
grasp their proffered hand, and we are very 
careful to respond always cordially to their 
advances. We often wish they knew a 
little more English than they do. The 
little they can say is spoken with such an 



90 A HOLIDAY IN 

excellent pronunciation and accent that it 
is very misleading. Every day we flatter 
ourselves that we have secured a driver 
with whom we can have some conver- 
sation. He will say, for example, " How 
far do you want to go ?" or, " This is a good 
horse," alluding to the merits of the steed 
he wishes us to engage, almost as well and 
with as little foreign accent as we could 
utter it. At once we are delighted, — forwe 
never learn by previous experience, — and 
think that now we have found a treasure. 
Then some such conversation as this will 
occur. As we come to a lake, we say, 
" Driver, what is the name of this lake ?" 

"Lake, yes." 

" But I did not ask you if it was a lake. 
I could see that myself. I asked you its 
name ?" 

" Don't understand." 

Presently we begin again. " Driver, are 
there any bears in these mountains ?" 

" Mountains, yes." 

" But, driver, what we asked you is, are 
there are any bears, bears (baaren, for we 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 9 1 

invariably fall into German when we are 
desperate, with a conviction that it must 
make the matter clear to them) in these 
mountains ?" 

" Don't understand." 

So it is with everything. Sometimes, 
instead of saying that they " don't under- 
stand," they take refuge in silence, and 
reply not a word. We have determined 
to learn some Norwegian phrases, so that 
we shall not be so utterly nonplussed ; but 
we are beginning rather late, I fear, to 
improve our knowledge of Norsk, as they 
call it. Although the pronunciation of 
English is, as we have said, so remarkably 
good here, the people seem to have a dif- 
ficulty in learning the language perfectly. 
Even those who profess to know it well 
enough to write advertisements are not 
proficient, as is evident from some of the 
notices posted around in the different 
places. In this hotel there is one in the 
second story hall, telling what should be 
done by the guests in case of fire. It con- 
cludes by saying that they will find a stair- 



92 A HOLIDAY IN 

case at the end of the house which leads 
on to the " hig-way," meaning, of course, 
highway. Another that we have heard of 
says that a certain house for the entertain- 
ment of guests is most conveniently situ- 
ated for the " see-worthy" mountains in 
the neighborhood. In the hotel where 
we stopped in Bergen, the following was 
posted on the wall in every room : " Trav- 
ellers are requested, in order to safe 
guard the mutual comfort, not to indulge 
in vociferous language after twelve o'clock 
at night." " Vociferous language," we 
thought good, and we wondered what 
sort of guests they were in the habit of 
having, it being the first hotel in Bergen. 
On Sunday afternoon, we left the friends 
who had been travelling with us for sev- 
eral days at Skei and went in a stohlk- 
jaerre to Sandene, on the Nord fiord. 
The ordinary way of continuing the jour- 
ney to Molde, a point of great interest, 
is to drive to Utvik on the same fiord, 
and afterwards cross over to Faleide. As 
the road, however is very hilly between 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 93 

Egge and Utvik, we decided, after reach- 
ing Egge, to make a little detour and go 
by the way of Red and Sandene, which 
would insure us a comfortable drive. We 
were very glad that we did so, as it af- 
forded us an opportunity of seeing a most 
beautiful lake in the neighborhood of 
Sandene, called Bradheim's vaud. The 
road, which for some distance ran along 
a height above the lake, was so finely 
made that it was in itself an object of 
interest. The rocks which towered above 
our heads were of the finest granite, and 
bore everywhere the marks of the blast- 
ing that had been necessary in order to 
build the road. The lake itself, however, 
proved the greatest attraction, not so 
much on account of its surroundings, 
which are not so striking as those of 
many others, but from the exquisite light- 
green color of the water, for which we 
could not at first account, as it was differ- 
ent from anything we had ever seen before 
in any part of the world. We found, 
upon regarding it more closely, that the 



94 A HOLIDAY IN 

supply of the lake was largely due to a 
river running into it of the same peculiar 
light-green, and came to the conclusion 
that the color of the river was caused by 
the whitish, milk-like water, such as comes 
from a glacier mixing with the usual blue 
of the mountain streams. Owing to the 
cause, whatever it was, the lake was not 
so transparent as others we have seen, 
but this was more than compensated by 
the unchanging beauty of its color. In the 
other lakes and fiords on which we have 
sailed the appearance changes, owing to 
the presence or absence of sunlight, and 
they are sometimes of an attractive color, 
at other times gray and dull-looking ; but 
the water in Bredheim's vaud was un- 
varyingly beautiful. We enjoyed the 
drive very much in spite of our usual 
attendant, the rain, and reached Sandene 
in time for supper. Yesterday morning 
we took a steamer on the fiord as far as 
Faleide, and from there, as I have said, 
had a long drive, changing horses several 
times to this place, Hellesilt, on the same 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 95 

fiord. The lemmings seem to be unusu- 
ally abundant in this neighborhood, and 
as we were nearing this village we saw 
them constantly running across the road 
a little ahead of our carriage. They have 
apparently so little fear of man it speaks 
well for the humanity of the Norwegians. 
All these stopping-points of our journey 
are set down on the map in such a man- 
ner as to make them seem of consider- 
able importance; and we are always 
amazed upon reaching them to find that 
they consist of from ten to twenty houses, 
and occasionally can only boast of five or 
six. If they have ten houses, one of them 
will be a hotel ; if twenty, there will prob- 
ably be two houses of entertainment. 
This village is very prettily situated. 
There is a fine view of the fiord in front, 
and at the side of the hotel, only a short 
distance from it, a mountain river dashes 
down a rocky descent, making an im- 
posing waterfall. We are going to re- 
main here until to-morrow, so as to go 
this afternoon into the Geiranger, a 



96 A HOLIDAY IN 

branch of the Nord fiord, which is said 
to be remarkably fine. There is a book 
of photographs of Norwegian scenery in 
the drawing-room here ; but they do not 
usually attract us in the least, from the 
fact that they so inadequately depict what 
they are intended to represent. No pho- 
tographs can do justice to the subject. 
Everything in Norway is on so grand a 
scale that the productions of the camera, 
fine as many of them are, fall far short 
of the reality, and consequently we feel 
that we should prefer to have no repre- 
sentation of beauties that would only be 
belittled thereby, but trust to our memory 
to preserve unimpaired the recollection 
of all the grandeurs we have witnessed. 



Molde, July 30, 1894. 

Dear . 

Everywhere that we have been in Nor- 
way the farmers have been making hay. 
The grass was cut about the time we 
arrived, and ever since they have been 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 97 

trying to dry it, rather a difficult matter it 
would seem in the districts where we have 
had so much rain. The manner in which 
they dry it is to put it on to frames and 
change it frequently. These frames are 
made by standing a number of stakes in 
the ground about three feet apart, and 
then fastening to them longitudinally other 
stakes, or sometimes wires, by means of 
the flexible stems of plants or the long 
fibres of roots. These frames become so 
heavy with all the grass hung upon them 
that they sometimes have to be supported 
by additional stakes driven into the ground 
a short distance away, propped against 
them. Everywhere we go that we see 
farms of fields under cultivation they are 
full of these frames. Another thing we 
often see, and which has interested us 
very much, is the number of wires reach- 
ing from the top of a high cliff or moun- 
tain and fastened by a windlass in the 
valley below near farm-houses, so that 
grass or hay can be sent down on them, 
as well as milk, fire-wood, and sometimes 
7 



98 A HOLIDAY IN 

other articles. In the early summer the 
cows are driven up into the mountains to 
pasture, as is done in Switzerland, and 
they do not come down again till the 
autumn is at hand, hence some means is 
needed of sending their milk to the val- 
leys below. We were very desirous of 
seeing a can of milk come down over the 
wire, and one day our wish was gratified. 
We heard a whizzing noise, and, looking 
over at a little distance to where a farm- 
house stood, we saw the can descending 
quickly, but not too much so. There is 
some arrangement acting like a brake 
which prevents it from coming too fast. 
The oats are now ripe, and are beginning 
to be cut and fastened upon long upright 
sticks to dry. As I have said before, the 
only crops are oats, barley, hay, and po- 
tatoes. Never, even in Southern Norway, 
did we see anything else. We cannot 
imagine why more vegetables are not 
planted. If the climate is too cold for 
wheat, we should think it possible to raise 
turnips and onions without any difficulty. 



SPAIN AND NORWAY 99 

Most of the lighter part of the farm work 
is done by women, the ploughing of the 
fields and the cutting of the crops being 
usually undertaken by the men. We saw 
about three times as many women as men 
at work in the fields during the season 
that we were there. 

The farmers seem to be a contented 
sort of people; indeed, an absence of 
greed appears a characteristic of the 
nation. A gentleman whom we have met 
in travelling said that he had the following 
conversation with a farmer, one of those 
occasionally to be seen who speak Eng- 
lish. Our friend said to him, " You must 
make very little money by your farm- 
ing." 

"Yes," was the reply; "but we don't 
want money." 

" Why, you need it for your clothes." 

" No ; we weave the cloth at home and 
make our clothes." 

" But your hats ?" 

" Our hats ? Why, my wife makes the 
felt and then the hats." 



IOO A HOLIDAY IN 



"Well, you must buy your carts and 



wagons. 



" No ; we cut down the trees and get 
the wood, and make our wagons all at 
home." 

" How about the harness for your 
horses ? you certainly buy that." 

" No ; we have the hides of our cattle, 
and make the leather ourselves for our 
shoes and our harness." 

"Well, the bits? you don't make them, 
do you ?" 

" No ; there we have to use some 
money. We must buy the iron for our 
axles and the tires of the wheels as well 
as for the bits; but in my father's time 
we used oaken bits, and for my part I 
think them just as good as the iron ones." 

There are a great many little farms, 
consisting often of only a few fields, on 
the sides of the mountains and in every 
spot where it is possible to cultivate the 
ground. We have been interested to 
know whether these belong to the men 
who plough and till the soil, and have 



SPAIN AND NORWAY IOI 

found upon inquiry that they do. The 
land in every case has been in the family 
for generations, and it is left always to 
the eldest son, or, where there are no 
sons, to the eldest daughter, so that the 
property may be preserved intact. 

Before leaving Hillesilt, where my last 
letter was written, we had the pleasure 
of visiting the Geiranger fiord, which is 
one of the wonders of Norway. The 
fiord is full of tortuous windings, and so 
narrow that it appears at a little distance 
as if there could not possibly be room to 
pass in places where the tremendous 
cliffs coming down to the water's edge 
seem to meet each other; yet, upon 
nearer approach, there is always a slight 
opening disclosed wide enough for the 
passage of the steamer. There are 
several waterfalls, but not of great vol- 
ume, and they did not impress us nearly 
so much as the immense height of the 
cliffs and their peculiar shape. Some of 
these fiords are in places, it is said, several 
thousand feet in depth, which fact is calcu- 



102 A HOLIDAY IN 

lated rather to add to the timidity of a ner- 
vous person when rowing or sailing over 
them. The next day we left Hillesilt, 
and succeeded, with some difficulty, in 
reaching here about ten o'clock in the 
evening. We went in a steamer on the 
fiord as far as Soholt, and there we landed 
and took stohlkjaerres for Vestnaes on 
the other side of the fiord from Molde. 
The drive was delightful, particularly so 
when the road led along the fiord. Molde 
is in a sheltered situation, and, although it 
is several degrees north of St. Petersburg, 
the vegetation is comparatively luxuriant. 
The same can be said of Vestnaes ; and 
the drive, as we approached it, seemed as 
if it might be through a gentleman's park. 
The grass and trees were fresh and green, 
as they would be with us in May. When 
we arrived at Vestnaes, we found that the 
little steamer which runs between that 
place and Molde would not make another 
trip that evening. The hotel-keeper at 
Vestnaes would doubtless have been glad 
if we had passed the night there, but we 



SPAIN AND NORWAY IO3 

were very anxious to go on to Molde, 
and resolved to try a row-boat. We 
secured three rowers and a rather poor, 
leaky boat with a small sail, as there did 
not seem to be any better one, and began 
our trip of eleven miles. The fiord, 
which was so wide that it seemed almost 
like the open sea, was in some places 
very rough, and our trip was a long one. 
The wind, what there was of it, was dead 
ahead, so that we had to depend more 
upon our oars than upon our canvas. 
We were surprised to find that our men 
did not understand the management of 
the sail better. They attempted to steer 
directly for Molde, which brought the 
wind dead ahead, and consequently the 
sail could not help us at all. One of our 
party, an excellent amateur sailor, re- 
mained silent until he could endure it no 
longer, and then proposed to the men by 
means of gestures, for they understood 
no English except a few words, to let him 
take the helm. As they made no oppo- 
sition, he seated himself in the middle of 



104 A HOLIDAY IN 

the boat, which is where the Norwegians 
steer, and soon succeeded by his good 
management in increasing our rate of 
speed. This want of a thorough knowl- 
edge of boat-sailing on the part of our 
men, which we have had occasion to re- 
mark again and again while here at Molde, 
astonished us the more, as we had seen 
such superb seamanship on the part of the 
officers of the steamers on the lakes and 
fiords. We had a specimen of it on the 
fiord just after leaving Stavanger on the 
first day of our trip. The steamers carry 
the mails, and it is often necessary for 
them to come up to each other in order 
to make an exchange of postal matter. 
We saw a steamer coming, and our boat 
at once slackened its speed and prepared 
to go alongside, which it did in the most 
skilful manner. We could not have be- 
lieved that it would go so close as it did — 
within a distance of two or three inches 
from the other — and yet not touch or even 
graze it. While an exchange of mails 
was being effected, a third steamer came 



SPAIN AND NORWAY IO5 

alongside of ours in a similarly masterful 
manner. 

Our trip to Molde was a long one in 
spite of the improved management of the 
sail, and was a hard pull for the men, there 
being five passengers in the boat, and yet 
their price for the whole number was four 
kroner, a kron being equivalent to our 
quarter of a dollar. 

We thought it was too little, and insisted 
upon giving them two kroner more, to 
which they objected, saying it was too 
much, but they finally accepted it. This 
incident affords an example of the want 
of acquisitiveness on the part of the Nor- 
wegians, of which I have before spoken. 
We noticed it in everything relating to 
money. We began by paying the man or 
boy or girl, as it might happen to be, who 
drove our stohlkjaerre, a "pour boire" at 
least twice as large as that mentioned in 
the guide-books as the proper sum to pay. 
There was never any pleasure manifested 
at this extra consideration, nor did they 
seem to care whether we gave them the 



106 A HOLIDAY IN 

usual amount or twice as much. This 
entire want of avarice, joined to the truth- 
fulness, honesty, industry, and cleanliness 
of the Norwegians, has caused us to 
form the high opinion of the national 
character which I expressed in my first 
letter. 

Upon arriving at ten o'clock in the 
evening, we found comfortable quarters 
at the Alexandra Hotel, and settled our- 
selves here for the coming week or ten 
days. Molde is a rather pretty seaside 
town, the Brighton of Norway. It is 
beautifully situated on the north side of 
the Molde fiord, and commands a splendid 
view of an extensive chain of mountains, 
among them some of the highest in the 
Romsdal and other valleys. We spent 
most of the day after our arrival in walk- 
ing through the town and making our- 
selves acquainted with our new surround- 
ings. There are two celebrated excursions 
from here, — one to the Romsdal and the 
other to the Eikisdal. As we wished to 
make them both, we concluded to begin 



SPAIN AND NORWAY IO7 

with the Romsdal, and to start for there 
on the next day. The boat which was to 
take us to Andalasnaes, the beginning 
of the Romsdal, did not leave until three 
o'clock in the afternoon. We should like 
to have started earlier, in order to get 
through the Romsdal to Ormien the same 
night, but we were obliged to accommo- 
date our movements to those of the boat. 
We reached Andalasnaes a little before 
eight o'clock, and remained at the hotel 
for supper. It was a clear, beautiful night, 
and, as we could see the scenery of the 
Romsdal to great advantage, we decided 
to go through to Ormien the same night. 
We knew it would keep us up very late, 
but we felt uncertain as to what the 
weather might be the next day. More- 
over, it is never dark, so that in most re- 
spects we can travel as well at night as in 
the day. We had with us several friends 
who came to the same decision as our- 
selves, so that we had quite a cavalcade 
of carioles and stohlkjaerres making their 
way through the Romsdal in the "wee 



108 A HOLIDAY IN 

sma' hours ayont the twal." The tre- 
mendous cliffs on each side of the valley 
frowned down upon us, but did us no 
harm. They had not always been so 
considerate, judging from the tremendous 
boulders that were scattered around on 
both sides of the road. 

One of the most interesting sights in 
the Romsdal was these immense masses 
of rock in such numbers and confusion 
that they seemed as if they might have been 
playthings thrown about by the Titans of 
old. Some of them were as large as a 
four-story house. What a tremendous 
shock to the earth must have been given 
when one of these came down from the 
mountain. An acquaintance of ours told 
us that on one occasion he witnessed the 
fall of a comparatively small boulder. As 
it alighted, it was driven several feet into 
the earth, then jumped a distance of ten 
feet in the air, and went rolling along over 
the ground till it finally settled itself in 
the position it was to keep for all time. 

We did not arrive at Ormien, our stop- 



SPAIN AND NORWAY IO9 

ping-place, until a few minutes before two 
o'clock, but we found the rustic hotel 
lighted and some one ready to receive us, 
which was a great comfort, as we had 
feared that every one would have retired. 
We slept during the remainder of the 
night, and, after an eight o'clock break- 
fast, returned through the Romsdal to 
Andalasnaes. The morning was not 
clear, and the tops of all the mountains 
were obscured by clouds, so that we were 
very glad to have seen the famous valley 
on the preceding evening in a clear and 
brilliant atmosphere. 

We stopped at two stations to rest and 
feed the horses, and at one of them, 
called Horgheem, we found the view up 
the valley particularly beautiful. After 
dining at Andalasnaes, we went on board 
the steamer and returned to Molde, reach- 
ing here about supper-time. 



IIO A HOLIDAY IN 



MOLDE, AugUSt 2, 1894. 

Dear . 

We returned last evening from our 
excursion to the Eikisdal, having given 
only two days to it, whereas three is the 
time usually allotted by tourists. We 
found that if we went to Noste, the village 
by which we enter the Eikisdal, and re- 
turned the same way, it would certainly 
require three days, and we had not so 
much time at our disposal, so we resolved 
to reach Noste in another manner, — viz., 
by stohlkjaerre and row-boat, leaving here 
on Tuesday morning and returning by the 
steamer which leaves Noste Wednesday 
afternoon. This plan we carried out after 
various adventures "by flood and field," 
and saw the Eikisdal satisfactorily. We 
left here a little after eight o'clock, and 
after a long drive, the first part of which 
was very agreeable, as it was along the 
Fannestrand, — a beautiful road along the 
fiord and the fashionable drive of Molde, 
— we reached the village of Tjelde, on the 



SPAIN AND NORWAY III 

Lange fiord, about three in the afternoon. 
At a small station called Eide, — there 
appear to be several Eides in Norway, — 
where we stopped some time to rest and 
feed the horse, we received a most friendly 
greeting, — not from any member of the 
human family, but a quadruped in the 
shape of a fine young heifer. We were 
seated under the trees in the shade, to 
escape the heat of the midsummer sun, 
when this gentle creature advanced toward 
us and placed her nose against our hands. 
Acting upon the hint, we rubbed her head 
and neck, which seemed to give her the 
greatest pleasure. It was difficult to 
satisfy her, and we were kept busy strok- 
ing her during a considerable portion of 
our stay. Even after we had discontinued 
our caresses she would not leave us, but 
lay down on the grass close to our feet so 
lonof as we remained. I never had the 
same experience elsewhere, and I thought 
what a striking illustration it afforded of 
the kindness with which animals are treated 
in Norway, and which induces affection and 



112 A HOLIDAY IN 

a want of timidity on their part. I have 
never seen horses so well cared for and 
so much considered anywhere else. They 
are driven, as a general thing, without 
either check- rein or blinders ; they are 
scarcely ever struck with the whip, and 
are so well fed and groomed that it is a 
pleasure to look at them. There are 
drinking troughs placed along the roads 
at intervals, and they are allowed to drink 
as much and as often as they desire. 
Having no check-reins they can easily help 
themselves, and to the grass growing by 
the wayside whenever they have an oppor- 
tunity. When going up the hills, of which, 
as may be supposed, there are a great 
many, the driver always gets out and walks, 
and very often the passengers do likewise. 
The good result of all this care is shown 
in the amount of work the stout little 
ponies can do without any apparent in- 
jury. They are frequently driven between 
twenty and thirty miles in one morning or 
afternoon, but are stopped on the way to 
be fed and rested. The friendly relations 



SPAIN AND NORWAY II3 

that exist between them and their drivers 
are most agreeable to witness. When 
stopping for a momentary halt before 
going up a steep hill, their drivers often 
go to them and rub their heads and stroke 
them, speaking at the same time a few 
encouraging words. 

Upon reaching Tjelde at about three 
o'clock, we sought a hotel, but could find 
nothing but a little farm-house, where we 
succeeded with considerable difficulty in 
getting, not a dinner, but a simple meal 
of boiled eggs and bread and milk, with 
some freshly-picked currants. We then 
engaged two boatmen to row us over to 
Noste, a distance of about eleven miles. 

Our party by this time was reduced to 
two, so that we did not need so many 
rowers. After much delay, we were set- 
tled with our baggage in the ugly, un- 
wieldy boat, but had only gone a short 
distance when we found that the water 
was fairly pouring in upon us through the 
bottom. It came in so fast that it kept 
one person constantly busy baling it out. 



114 A HOLIDAY IN 

This did not look at all hopeful, nor was 
it reassuring to timid persons, which, 
fortunately, we were not. The boatmen 
themselves seemed shortly to realize that 
this would not do, and told us by signs — 
for they could not speak a word of Eng- 
lish — that they were going back to the 
shore to get another boat. This was ac- 
complished, much to our satisfaction, after 
considerable delay, and then we gave our- 
selves up to the enjoyment of the eleven- 
mile row. It was very pleasant at first, 
but became almost intolerable before we 
reached Noste on account of the cramped 
position in which we were kept. We were 
rowed out of the Lange fiord, a branch of 
the great Molde fiord, into another branch, 
at the end of which Noste is situated. 
We found a comfortable hotel there, and 
took the usual eight o'clock supper. After- 
ward we had a charming drive with a very 
spirited pony through a beautiful valley to 
Overaas, at the end of the Eikisdal-vaud 
or lake, where we proposed to pass the 
night. We found lodgings, but of the 



SPAIN AND NORWAY II5 

most primitive character, there being no 
looking-glass in our room, and the stairs 
by which we ascended being little better 
than a ladder. At breakfast we had only 
steel forks and plated spoons to eat with, 
but the provender was very good. The 
situation of Overaas is beautiful in the 
extreme, and, as we walked out after 
breakfast, the grandeur of all the sur- 
roundings drew from us expressions of 
the most enthusiastic admiration. We 
thought, in fact, this entrance to the Eikis- 
dal-vaud more striking than the lake itself, 
when we came to sail on it. We chartered 
the little steamer, which is kept to make 
the round of the lake for the benefit of 
tourists, and had it all to ourselves. We 
had heard so much of the Eikisdal-vaud 
that we were a little disappointed, the 
reality not equalling our expectations. 
The Romsdal is the finer excursion of the 
two, although there are many very attrac- 
tive points in connection with the Eikisdal. 
We finished the tour of the lake at 
noon, and were able to catch the steamer 



Il6 A HOLIDAY IN 

from Noste, which brought us back here 
at a little after eight o'clock. This is our 
last day in Molde, as to-morrow we start 
for Bergen, to take passage the next day 
on the El Dorado back to England. 

We have been much gratified at hearing 
that, from one of the most drunken coun- 
tries in Europe, Norway has become one 
of the most sober, and this is attributed 
mainly to the excellent result of the Goth- 
enberg system. This prevents the tavern- 
or bar-keepers from making any profit on 
the sale of alcoholic liquors, so that they 
have no motive for urging their custom- 
ers to drink. It affords, however, to the 
people the greatest facilities for obtaining 
light wine and beer, care being taken by the 
government to have all the beer examined 
to see that it is kept pure and free from 
alcohol. This excellent beer, which con- 
tains probably less alcohol than any other 
in the world, is drunk in quantities, but has 
no intoxicating effect, and yet it satisfies 
the people, so that they seldom seek for 
stronger beverages. A great desire is 



SPAIN AND NORWAY I I 7 

felt on the part of some to introduce this 
system in England, the Bishop of Ches- 
ter favoring it particularly, as he is an 
ardent advocate of the Gothenberg method 
of regulating the liquor traffic, and we 
hope that the experiment may be tried. 



Bergen, August 4, 1894. 

Dear . 

We arrived here yesterday about one 
o'clock, having sailed from Molde at five 
on the previous afternoon. The sail was 
a beautiful one, taking us among the nu- 
merous islands on the coast of Norway. 
We never saw anything like it, — islands to 
the right, to the left, in short, everywhere, 
some of them inhabited, others nothing 
but barren rocks. They looked most 
lovely in the evening light cast by the 
setting sun, which colored them with a 
purple sheen and transfigured the whole 
scene. During the night we passed a 
boat stranded on one of the islands. We 
soon ascertained that it was the tourist 



Il8 A HOLIDAY IN 

steamer Miowera, which left England a 
few days before with above a hundred 
and fifty passengers. They had only 
been out a few days when, through some 
mistake of the pilot, she ran upon the 
rocks. All the passengers were saved, 
and were taken in boats to another 
island, where they remained until a pass- 
ing steamer carried them to Bergen. 
When we arrived at our hotel, we found 
several of them staying there. The 
Canadian Australian company, to which 
the Miowera belonged, finally furnished 
them with another steamer, and the 
greater part of the passengers continued 
their journey, the remainder, some of 
whom were English and some Ameri- 
cans, giving up the tour and returning to 
their respective countries. 

This morning we have visited the Han- 
seatic Museum, which we missed when 
we were here before, and found it most 
interesting. It is an exact representation 
of one of the houses of the German 
merchant princes at the time the Ger- 



SPAIN AND NORWAY H9 

mans ruled in Norway, and the poor in- 
habitants of the country were oppressed 
in every possible way, not being allowed 
to hold any offices or accept any employ- 
ment except of a menial kind. These 
merchants had under them a foreman and 
apprentices, and the latter were treated in 
anything but a merciful manner, judging 
from the rope's end, knotted and with 
nails fastened in it, with which we were 
told they were beaten. The merchants, 
so long as they remained in Norway, 
were not allowed to marry, so that there 
should be no mixture with the Norwe- 
gians. If they desired to take upon them- 
selves family relations, they were obliged 
to return to Germany. They had no fire 
in their bedrooms, nor any, apparently, in 
their offices, even in winter. In every 
"garden," as it is called in Norwegian, 
which means court or alley, there was one 
general assembling-room for the inhabi- 
tants of the different houses, and there 
a fire was kept. The beds resembled 
bunks, and all opened with doors like 



120 A HOLIDAY IN SPAIN AND NORWAY 

closets in the wall. The only articles of 
any beauty were the great brazen basin 
and kettle suspended over it, containing 
water for toilet purposes. 

We leave to-day in the steamer El 
Dorado for England, looking back upon 
our sojourn in Norway with much pleas- 
ure, and bidding good-by with regret to 
a country so full of natural beauty and a 
people so gifted with noble and attractive 
traits of character. 



THE END. 



A Holiday 

IN 

Spain and Norway 



By 

Caroline Ear/e White 

Authir of 

"Love in the Tropics" and "A Modern Agrippa and 
Patience Barker" 



# 



L22 1395 



% 



Philadelphia 

J. B. Lippincott Company 

Mdcccxcv 



